Ideas
From Buddha-Nature
Philosophical Ideas
Is buddha-nature already perfected and simply obscured by delusion, or is it a seed or potential that must be cultivated and perfected? Is it the mind's natural luminosity, or is it the same as emptiness? Are buddha-nature teachings definitive or provisional? These are questions that cut to the heart of Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine regarding the nature of enlightenment, reality, and the Path. This page introduces some of the key questions in buddha-nature theory, framed in terms of binaries.
Binary opposites in Buddhism—such as saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, emptiness and luminosity, ignorance and wisdom, and scores more—have been the stuff of debates since Śākyamuni Buddha first preached in Sarnath. He himself became the subject of a central binary: on his parinirvāṇa, did he dissipate into nonexistence, or does he abide as a luminous universal principle? It's an age-old dialectic of presence and absence that cuts to the heart of Buddhist metaphysics and is particularly relevant for buddha-nature theory. Similarly, over the centuries, teachers have explored multiple ways of explaining the relationship between ordinary deluded beings and fully perfect buddhas; at the moment of our enlightenment, will we be transformed, or will our true nature be revealed? Is something that isn't here now somehow produced? Do we share a common nature with the buddhas, or are we fundamentally different from them? The Buddha may have proposed a middle way between binary dualism, but there's a lot of disagreement about where that middle falls.
Buddha-nature theory seems to have been initially offered as one such middle way, a previously missing link between extremes offered by the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra schools of Mahāyāna doctrine. On the one hand was a theory of emptiness that was so extreme that, many argued, certain meditative practices were undermined. On the other hand was a theory of mind that proposed a permanently existent consciousness, an idea that was accused of violating the Buddhist doctrines of impermanence and no-self. In its earliest appearances buddha-nature was vague, more poetry than theoretical principle, hinting at possible interpretations and promising salvation for all without necessarily explaining much. But as the doctrine grew in popularity, debate lines developed. It has been categorized as provisional and definitive, defined as emptiness as well as luminosity, labeled Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, or neither, as it has been tugged one way and the other across the middle ground.
To better understand what the debate lines are and where the great thinkers in Buddhist history have stood, the following outlines the various binaries that appear in buddha-nature theory. Each is briefly introduced, with suggestions for further reading. Great Buddhist thinkers who populate this website, as well as scriptures and classic works of doctrinal exegesis, are presented with a checklist of positions.
Universal or Limited[edit]
Not all scriptures agree that buddha-nature is universal. Texts such as the Laṅkāvatārasūtra and the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra describe a class of beings (gotra) called the icchantika, who are so degraded through their lust and ignorance that they can never become enlightened. Such is the case only in the earliest version of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, however; the later version teaches the universality of buddha-nature, and all but one tradition has rejected the category. The exception was the Faxiang school (法相宗) of the great Chinese translator Xuanzang 玄奘 (born 602), which declined only a few generations after Xuanzang's death. Even without the icchantika on the scene, however, not all Buddhist schools accept the universality of buddha-nature. The Yogācāra theory of classes of beings divides beings into three basic categories determined by their potential liberation; only those belonging to the bodhisattva class will attain complete and perfect buddhahood, while those of the "disciple" (śrāvaka) and "solitary buddha" (pratyekabuddha) classes will attain the lesser enlightenment of the arhat. These beings cannot be said, therefore, to possess buddha-nature the same as the bodhisattvas. In some Buddhist traditions the universality of buddha-nature is taken to include even inanimate objects such as grass and trees and even roof tiles. The logic here is that buddha-nature is identical to the dharmakāya, the truth-body of the buddha, which is the true nature of all phenomena.
Universal
People with this position
Texts with this position
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa'i bzhes dgongs dbu tshad kyi gzhung spyi dang gung bsgrigs te spyod pa'i spyi don rab gsal snang ba
An explanation of the general meaning of the scriptures on Madhyamaka (dbu ma) and pramāṇa (tshad ma) by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940).
Lung rigs gnyis kyis phyag rgya chen po'i bzhed tshul la 'khrul pa sel ba'i bstan bcos zung 'jug gru chen
One of the three short texts on Mahāmudrā by Śākya Choden, this was written in response to a list of questions raised by a certain scholar named Karma Wangchuk Pel with regard to Sakya Paṇḍita’s critique of Neo-Mahāmudrā and Single White Remedy in his Distinguishing the Three Vows.
He begins with a cogent presentation of Mahāmudrā covering its sources, the objective Mahāmudrā, the subjective Mahāmudrā, its synonyms, the actual Mahāmudra experience among sublime beings, the analogous Mahāmudrā understanding among ordinary practitioners, and the Mahāmudrā concept according to the philosophical and tantric schools. Following this, he delves into how some later followers of Sakya and Kagyu tradition do not fathom the understanding of their respective teachings. He als points out how the followers of Kadampa tradition have missed the important original teachings of Atīśa and founding fathers.
In summary, Śākya Chokden underscores the point that there are two ways in which misconceptions are overcome: through an extrovert rational analysis and an introvert yogic contemplation. The Mahāmudrā tradition of Gampopa belongs to the latter category while the former includes the postulations of self-emptiness and other-emptiness.Yid bzhin mdzod kyi 'grel pa pad+ma dkar po
The root text of the Treasury of Wishfulling Jewel along with its auto-commentary the White Lotus make up one of main books among the Seven Treasures of Longchenpa. In chapter 1 of his Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel, he expounds the theory of buddha-nature as the primordial ground from which both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra arise. In chapter 18 he discusses the abiding nature of reality, which is the ultimate truth, and presents the experiences of saṃsāra as temporary illusions arising from adventitious misconception. Buddha-nature is understood to be the empty, luminous nature of things which abides as the ontic reality in all sentient beings and is free from all fabrications. Using the terms from the sūtras teaching buddha-nature and the Ultimate Continuum, he characterizes buddha-nature as the ultimate pure, eternal, blissful self. He considers the teachings on buddha-nature which form part of the third wheel as definitive teachings, which expound the same ground nature presented in both the sūtra and tantra literature. In summary, he writes in the Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel:
འོད་གསལ་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་སྟེ། །སྟོང་གསལ་རིག་པ་དབྱེར་མེད་ཆོས་ཉིད་དོ།། The luminous buddha-nature is indivisible reality Which is spontaneous, empty, and clear awareness.
His presentation on buddha-nature theory and associated practices in his writings became the most authoritative references which determine the interpretation of buddha-nature theory and practice in the Nyingma tradition to this day.Sde snod bcud bsdus man ngag gi snying po
One of a series of short texts by the Kadam scholar Kyotön Mönlam Tsultrim, this was composed in Narthang at the behest of Sonam Dar, a descendent of Kyide Nyima Gön and at the request of Geshe Gönden Ö and Yönten Ö. The text contains concise lamrim instructions starting with (1) instruction on the contemplation on precious humanhood, impermanence and the law of cause and effect, and the practice of taking refuge for the inferior individuals, (2) contemplation of defects of cycle of existence, renunciation and non-self for those following the path of the hearers and solitary realisers for the middling individuals, and (3) finally the cultivation of bodhicitta and meditation on non-conceptuality and luminous nature of the mind which is free from all elaborations for superior individuals. This brief teaching underscores the importance of eradicating conceptual thoughts and abiding in the non-conceptual luminous nature of the mind.
Chen po gzhan stong gi lta ba dang 'brel ba'i phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam gyi rnam bshad nges don dbyings kyi rol mo
A clear explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer in colloquial Tibetan by a leading contemporary Karma Kagyu master Sangay Nyenpa Rinpoche.
Sekoddeśa
This is the first tantric text in the Kangyur canon related to the Kālacakra cycle. It is a summary of the third chapter of the longer Kālacakra tantra dealing with the ritual of initiation or empowerment. The Kālacakra teachings presents a unique set of seven initiations to conduct the ordinary/childlike initiate (བྱིས་པ་འཇུག་པའི་དབང་བདུན་) and then the four main initiations of the vase, secret, wisdom and word, which are also divided into two sets of the conventional and superior types. The Kālacakra cycle is considered to be very explicit in revealing the luminous nature of the mind through these initiatory rituals and tantric methods employing bodily energy and fluids.
Bde gshegs snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
Butön's study on the theory of the tathāgatagarbha written in 1359. In this text he argues that the teachings on buddha-nature are of an expedient or provisional meaning, which is a position that is typical of the Sakya view as set forth by Sakya Paṇḍita and others. He backs up this position with citations from the Ghanavyūhasūtra, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra, the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra, and the Ratnagotravibhāga.
Phyi nang grub mtha'i rnam bzhag gi bsdus don blo gsal yid kyi rgyan bzang
A condensed presentation of the tenets of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist philosophical systems by a modern Jonang scholar. This treatise presents the main advocates, the main literary sources, the view or ground reality, the practice on the path and resultant states. The highest Buddhist tenet system, the Mādhyamika school, is divided into the rangtong or the self-emptiness sub-school and the zhentong or the other-emptiness sub-school.
Phyag rgya chen po'i shan 'byed ces bya ba'i bstan bcos
The second work in Śākya Chokden's trilogy of short writings on Mahāmudra, he points out in this text a list of the five types of misinterpretation of the actual point of Mahāmudrā practice:
1. The emptiness posited through Mādhyamika reasoning. 2. The union of emptiness and bliss which fills the network of channels after tantric practice of consecration. 3. Experience of bare consciousness free from all mentation. 4. Non-apprehension of the mind either inside or outside, having colour and shape, etc. 5. The ground consciousness which is the cause of all experience.
Śākya Choden states that none of these capture the profound, precise, effective Mahāmudrā technique of Gampopa, which is compared to the Single White Remedy, and explains how they are not the same as Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā. Śākya Chokden also distinguishes the Chinese Chan practice from Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā and goes on to explain their differences. He elaborates on the practice of Mahāmudrā through the four points of single-pointedness (རྩེ་གཅིག་), non-elaboration (སྤྲོས་བྲལ་), one taste (རོ་གཅིག་), and non-meditation (སྒོམ་མེད་).Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā
In Sanskrit, the “Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras”; one of the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga) said to have been presented to Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tuṣita heaven. Written in verse, the text offers a systematic presentation of the practices of the bodhisattva from the standpoint of the Yogācāra school and is one of the most important of the Indian Mahāyāna śāstras. Its twenty-one chapters deal with (1) the proof that the Mahāyāna sūtras are the word of the Buddha; (2) taking refuge in the three jewels (ratnatraya); (3) the lineage (gotra) of enlightenment necessary to undertake the bodhisattva path; (4) the generation of the aspiration to enlightenment (bodhicittotpāda); (5) the practice of the bodhisattva; (6) the nature of reality, described from the Yogācāra perspective; (7) the attainment of power by the bodhisattva; (8) the methods of bringing oneself and others to maturation; (9) enlightenment and the three bodies of a buddha (trikāya); (10) faith in the Mahāyāna; (11) seeking complete knowledge of the dharma; (12) teaching the dharma; (13) practicing in accordance with the dharma; (14) the precepts and instructions received by the bodhisattva; (15) the skillful methods of the bodhisattva; (16) the six perfections (pāramitā) and the four means of conversion (saṃgrahavastu), through which bodhisattvas attract and retain disciples; (17) the worship of the Buddha; (18) the constituents of enlightenment (bodhipākṣikadharma); (19) the qualities of the bodhisattva; and (20-21) the consummation of the bodhisattva path and the attainment of buddhahood. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 514)
Springs yig bdud rtsi'i thig le
Instruction by Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab written as a letter of advice on Buddhist practice framed as a formal correspondence to one Gatön Sherab Drak and other monks. Ngok Lotsāwa covers many topics in his advice from thinking of death and impermanence, cultivating enthusiasm, compassion, bodhicitta, etc., following the discipline and good teacher to cultivating the crop of Buddha's qualities having moistened the seed of buddha-nature by the rain of learning coming from the cloud of one's master. He advises monks to follow the words of Nāgārjuna and understand the notion of emptiness beyond existence and non-existence.
Grub mtha' mdzod
This book is among the Seven Treasures Longchenpa composed. The Seven Treasures today represent the best Tibetan literary collection for the systemisation of the Dzogchen tradition. In his Treasury of Tenet Systems, Longchenpa carries a detailed exegesis of the buddha-nature in chapter 4 on the spiritual gene required for the practice of Mahāyāna path. He cites several sūtras and many critical verses from the Ultimate Continuum, on which he comments to make clear his interpretation of buddha-nature teachings. He considers buddhahood as being identical with buddha-nature latent in all sentient beings and argues that buddhahood is a result which is revealed rather than a fruit which is cultivated and produced. Thus, all qualities of the Buddha are primordially present in the nature of all sentient beings.
Mnyam med dwags po'i chos bzhir grags pa'i gzhung gi 'grel pa snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
A detailed commentary on Gampopa's Four Dharmas (chos bzhi) instruction for fundamental Buddhist practice. The root verses containing the four dharma of Gampopa were written by his learned student from Laya, Jangchub Ngödup exactly according to how Gampopa taught, and the extensive commentary containing a rich array of citations and arguments was authored by Jangchub Ngödup himself. The topic four dharmas of Gampopa refers to the four points of making dharma practice a genuine dharma practice, making dharma progress on the path, dispelling confusion on the path, and see confusion as pristine wisdom.
Theg pa chen po'i bstan bcos rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa
A commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga by the famed scholar Bodong Paṇchen Chokle Namgyal. He considers this text a connector between sūtra and mantra traditions and argues that buddha-nature does not possess the qualities of the Buddha but is luminous and pure by nature.
The Summary of the Ultimate Continuum: Clarifying the Meaning of Buddha-Nature
In this short work, the famous Sakya scholar Rendawa presents his interpretation of and positions on the main topics covered by the Ultimate Continuum. While summarising the text, he points out how buddha-nature is to be understood as the luminous nature of the mind, and not as an absolute nature separate from the luminous aspect of the mind. He argues that buddha-nature, which is present in all sentient beings, is endowed with the universal quality of luminosity of the mind but not with the specific enlightened qualities of the Buddha. Thus, employing the common hermeneutic tools of reference,་purpose and direct contradiction, he considered the teachings on buddha-nature to be provisional teachings, which are not to be taken literally.
Theg mchog shin tu rgyas pa'i dbu ma chen po rnam par nges pa'i rnam bshad zin bris dbu phyogs legs pa
A collection of explanatory notes on Tāranātha's Theg mchog shin tu rgyas pa'i dbu ma chen po rnam par nges pa compiled by his disciple Yeshe Gyamtso, the book presents in detail the concepts of the Middle Way, the understanding of the ground, general phenomenology, Buddhist theories of consciousness and Mahāyāna path leading to Buddhahood, which is considered to be a quality latent in all sentient beings obscured by adventitious afflictions. The notes on the last two chapters were either not written or lost. Lobsang Chogdrub Gyatso added the commentary on the last two chapters in 1894.
Gzhan stong chen mo
Along with Dol po pa's Ri chos Nge don Rgya mtsho and Tāranātha’s Dbu ma Theg mchog Rab dbyed Brgyad, the Gzhan stong Chen mo comprises the third major textbook studied within the Gzhan stong Madhyamaka curriculum at major Jonang monastic universities, including 'Dzam thang Dgon pa, Bswe Dgon pa and Lcam mda' Dgon pa. For pedagogical reasons, and because of the structure of Mkhan po Blo grags' work, monks generally begin by studying sūtra gzhan stong separately from tantric gzhan stong in preparation for examining Dol po pa's synthetic masterpiece interweaving sūtra and tantra. In a coherent structure identical to the Ri chos, the Gzhan stong Chen mo presents gzhan stong philosophical thinking systematically in accord with the outline of ground (gzhi), path (lam) and fruition ('bras bu), treating sūtra gzhan stong within the main body of the text and tantric gzhan stong as an appendix.
Michael Sheehy, 2007.
Vimalaprabhā
A crucial commentary to the Kālacakra Tantra purported to have been written by Kalkī Śrī Puṇḍarīka, the fabled Second King of Shambhala also known as Kulika Puṇḍarīka, though in the Tibetan tradition the work is sometimes attributed to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara whom Puṇḍarīka was considered to be an emanation of. In the Tibetan tradition it is counted among the Three Cycles of Bodhisattva Commentaries (Sems 'grel skor gsum), which are a trilogy of canonical commentaries attributed to the transcendent Bodhisattvas Vajrapaṇi, Vajragarbha, and Avalokiteśvara on the Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, and Kālacakra Tantras, respectively.
Dbu ma'i byung tshul rnam par bshad pa'i gtam yid bzhin lhun po zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
A history of the Madhyamaka philosophy in India and Tibet written by Śākya Chokden between 1484-1490 in Lhasa with Kongtön Chökyi Gyaltsen as scribe. In this text, he defines what is a Middle Way and presents the transmission of different Middle Way thoughts.
Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i kar TIka chen mo
The 8th Karmapa's commentary on the famous treatise, the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa) by Drikungpa master Jikten Gönpo. The Single Intention is a compendium of critical philosophical, soteriological, and moral positions taught by Jikten Gönpo and written down by his disciple and nephew Sherab Jungne. The text contains 150 critical vajra words (རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུང་) in seven groups (ཚོམས་), along with another 47 appended points (ལྷན་ཐབས་). The root text composed by Sherab Jungne has seen several commentaries, including one by the first Drikung Chungtsang Chökyi Drakpa. This extensive commentary by the 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje is perhaps the only long commentary by Karma Kagyu master on the Single Intention.
Mdo rgyud rin po che'i mdzod
In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Dam pa'i chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i rnam bshad lung don gsal byed legs bshad nyi ma'i snang ba
Rikdzin Chökyi Drakpa's extensive commentary on the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa), one of the core texts of the Drikung Kagyu tradition that is reported to be the oral teachings of Jikten Gönpo that were written down and edited together by his student Sherab Jungne.
Phyag rgya chen po gsal bar byed pa'i bstan bcos tshangs pa'i 'khor los gzhan blo'i dregs pa nyams byed
In this book, Śākya Chokden seeks to explain the luminous nature of the mind which he says is also popularly given the name Mahāmudrā in Tibet (སེམས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་འོད་གསལ་ལ།། ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོའི་མཚན་གསོལ་ནས། །གངས་ཅན་ལྗོངས་སུ་ཆེར་གྲགས་པ། །དེ་ཉིད་མདོ་ཙམ་གསལ་བར་བྱ།།). In elucidating the Mahāmudrā advocated by Gampopa, he presents a detailed explanation of it by pointing out that the Mahāmudrā in this context is the luminous nature of the mind, which is common to all Mahāyāna traditions, and the one which is explicitly taught in the works of Maitreya, particularly in the Ultimate Continuum. This nature is totally obscured or tainted in the ground phase (གཞི་དུས་མ་དག་པ་), partially tainted or obscured at the path phase (ལམ་དུས་ཕྱོགས་གཅིག་དག་པ་) and fully purified at the fruition phase (འབྲས་དུས་ཐམས་ཅད་དག་པ་). He writes that the basic element of buddha nature is the ground to be purified, the stains to be removed are nine-fold perhaps referring to the nine analogies used to illustrate how buddha-nature is obscured by the afflictive emotions, the antidote which purifies is the discernment of buddha-nature and the final result the perfection of purity, self and bliss. A resemblance of the final result is already perceived on the Path of Seeing, and such experience of buddha nature is said to be the seeing of Mahāmudrā.
He states that Mahāmudrā in this context is not the emptiness of non-implicative negation as argued in the scholastic writings of Nāgārjuna but what is taught in the writings of Maitreya, or the definitive ultimate reality taught in the Third Turning after having taught self-emptiness in the Middle Turning. He then explains how such nature is actualized through meditation by removing the dualistic conceptual thoughts and emotions which are included in the eight types of consciousness that characterize the three realms of cycle of existence. In the final section, he refutes several misunderstanding and criticism concerning Mahāmudrā and argues that this Mahāmudrā cannot be realized merely through conceptual reasoning but through practice of non-mentation with the help of instructions which points out the nature of the mind and devotion to guru. Intellectual study and single-pointed concentration are not prerequisites for the experience of Mahāmudrā. He adds that positing the emptiness, which is a non-implicative negation after a reductionist analysis, as Mahāmudrā is not in accordance with the Ultimate Continuum or the purport of the hymns by Saraha.
Chos kyi dbyings su bstod pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa chos kyi dbyings rnam par nges pa
In this commentary on Nāgārjuna's Dharmadhātustava, the renowned Sakya scholar Śākya Chokden reasons that he wrote this commentary because many scholars misunderstand dharmadhātu or sphere of reality to be mere emptiness that is non-implicative negative and do not understand that it has a luminous aspect of awareness.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i rnam bshad don dam rnam nges bsdus pa'i snying po'i snying po
In his commentary [Gendun Özer] mentions that he composed it for his students who had requested that he write something that would differ from the "coarse explanation" (bshad nyog rtsing po) of the Uttaratantra offered by the "early commentators" (snga rabs pa) of the Kadam tradition. While Gendün Özer does not intend to succumb to a "coarse explanation" of the Indian treatise, he follows his early Kadam predecessors' exposition in terms of doctrinal position, even though his literary style is different, with numerous poetic verses of admiration. In this time period it is not surprising that he wrote the commentary primarily in consultation with Ngok's Tibetan translation (rngog 'gyur) of the Uttaratantra, but the author also used the translations made by Naktso and Patsap wherever necessary.
(Source: Tsering Wangchuk. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, 59.)
Zab mo gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyud 'debs
Tāranātha's lineage supplication to the other-emptiness Madhyamaka tradition that was preserved by the Jonang school. Tāranātha traces the origin of the other-emptiness to the Buddha, who passed it down through Maitreya, Asaṅga, Vasubandhu to Maitripa or from Vasubandhu through Sthiramati, Guṇamāti, et al. to Maitrīpa, or from Buddha through Vajrapaṇi, Rahulabhadra, Nāgārjuna, Śabari, Maitrīpa, from Maitrīpa through Anandakīrti, Ratnakaraśānti, Sajjṇāna, Anandavajra, then in Tibet through Tsen Khawoche, et al. until Tāranātha.
Sher snying gi tshig 'grel
Tāranātha presents an interpretation of the Heart Sūtra in accordance with his philosophical espousal of the other-emptiness in this short word-for-word commentary. At the very outset, he states in this commentary that the main referent of the term Perfection of Wisdom is buddha-nature, the non-dual wisdom which is the true nature of all phenomena. This, he argues, is not empty of its nature. The Heart Sūtra sufficiently makes it clear that the five skandhas and other conventional phenomena are empty of their nature, but not buddha-nature or the ultimate truth. ‘Form is emptiness’ indicates that form is utterly non-existent and empty. ‘Emptiness is form’ indicates that emptiness, which is the ultimate reality, is what appears as form to ordinary beings. ‘Emptiness is not other than form’ shows there is no emptiness which exists separately from form but reality qua emptiness is rather the true nature of form. ‘Form is not other than emptiness’ states there is no real form that is different from emptiness in the ultimate sense, because emptiness qua reality exists whereas form doesn’t.
Kun tu bzang po'i smon lam stobs po che
The Powerful Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra comes from the dGongs pa zang thal or Penetrating Intent cycle of Dzogchen teachings by Rigdzin Gödem. The prayer explains how saṃsāra and nirvāṇa emerge from the same ground of primordial reality through awareness and unawareness. The cognitive glitch of dualistic clinging and ego-grasping is explained to have led to the many afflictive emotions and the corresponding resultant states of rebirth. The prayers instructs practitioners to rest in the natural state of the mind without attachment or aversion. The prayer is very widely chanted in the Himalayan communities.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi nges don gsal bar byed pa'i rin po che'i gron me
An extensive commentary on the Uttaratantra written by a contemporary of Dölpopa and Butön during the height of the debate over the definitive nature of the treatise and its teaching on buddha-nature. Lodrö Tsungme presents an interpretation of buddha-nature which is different from what is given by many masters of Sangphu including Ngok Loden Sherab. As his position are quite similar to what Longchenpa espoused later, the commentary was mistakenly attributed to Longchenpa by some Nyingma followers.
Zab mo nang don
Rang byung's most famous, and perhaps most difficult work is yet another verse text, his Zab mo nang don, on the Anuttarayogatantras. This eleven-chapter work is thirty-two folios in length. According to a colophon provided by Kong sprul, it was written in the Water Male Dog year, 1322, at Bde chen steng. The colophons to the present redactions say only that it was written in the Dog Year. (Source: Schaeffer, K., The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood, p. 16)
Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag gi bshad sbyar rgyal ba'i gan mdzod
In his exposition of the Mahāmudrā view in the Phyag chen rgyal ba’i gan mdzod, Padma dkar po adopts Yang dgon pa’s famous distinction between the mahāmudrā in the modes of abiding (gnas lugs phyag chen) and error ( ’khrul lugs phyag chen) as an interpretive schema both for [1] clarifying the doctrine of the unity or nonduality of the two truths—which he takes as a central doctrine of the Madhyamaka, Mantrayāna and ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud traditions—and [2] criticizing the rival Jo nang account of reality which posits the conventional and ultimate as two great kingdoms that have nothing in common. (Source: Mahamudra and the Middle Way - Vol. 2, 157.)
Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i mdo rnam par bshad pa sngon med legs bshad
In this commentary on the Heart Sūtra, Tāranātha starts with the discussion of the different forms of Perfection of Wisdom in relation to the nature of phenomena, the path to enlightenment, the resultant state, and the doctrinal teachings which discuss the topic. He cites Dignāga to claim that the true Perfection of Wisdom is the resultant wisdom of the buddhas. However, the most important point he underscores is that the ultimate message of all three Turning of the Wheels and the Heart Sūtra is the great other-emptiness. All conventional phenomena are primordially empty of their own nature but the ultimate nature is only empty of other conventional phenomena but not empty of its own nature. This, he argues, is the ultimate truth, the reality and the intent of all buddhas.
Commenting on the four statements on form and emptiness in the Heart Sūtra, he presents what he considers to be the interpretations among the proponents of the Mind Only (སེམས་ཙམ་པ་) and Naturelessness (ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པར་སྨྲ་བ་), both of which are acceptable in certain contexts but do not capture the ultimate reality. The ultimate understanding, he reasons, must be obtained by putting the four statements in the context of the three characteristics (མཚན་ཉིད་གསུམ་). He goes on to explain how the four statements should be understood in relation to the imputed nature, the dependent nature and the consummate nature, through which one can grasp the meaning of the emptiness of that which is non-existent (མེད་པའི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་), the emptiness of that which is existent (ཡོད་པའི་སྟོང་ཉིད་), and the emptiness of true nature (རང་བཞིན་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་) taught by Maitreya.
Deb ther sngon po
The famous historical work by Gö Lotsawa Zhönu Pal (1392-1481), likely referenced by more scholars than any other single work. It was translated into English by G. Roerich with the help of Gendün Chöpel.
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa chen po'i dgongs pa gzhan stong dbu ma'i tshul legs pa bshad mthar 'dzin gdung 'phrog
A treatise on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Other-Emptiness (gzhan stong) as inherited from Dölpopa by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940). Tsoknyi Gyatso explains the system of the ground, path and result in this text, followed by a synopsis of the Ultimate Continuum.
'phags ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i dka' 'grel 'gran zla med pa'i rgyal po tshig le'ur byas pa
One of the Tāranātha's three commentaries on the Heart Sūtra, he presents the ultimate purport of the sūtras as being the ultimate other-emptiness. He comments on the sūtra and its transmission in verses, a very rare style for a work considered to be a commentary. Like his short word for word commentary and the detailed exegesis, this verse commentary explains the Heart Sūtra in accordance with the theories of other-emptiness. Tāranātha also claims he is unique in showing how the Heart Sūtra also captures the hidden themes of the eight topics discussed in some other longer versions of Perfection of Wisdom texts. The commentary was written when Tāranātha was 29 by Tibetan reckoning.
Gzhan stong khas len seng ge'i nga ro
Mipam's other "lion's roar"—his Lion's Roar: Affirming Other Emptiness—shows the way he establishes an other-emptiness view that affirms the existence of the ultimate truth as not empty of its own essence.
(Source: Duckworth, Douglas. Jamgön Mipham: His Life and Teachings. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2011: p 58.)
Zab lam khrid kyi man ngag 'phrad tshad rang grol
Thrangu Rinpoche met Khenpo Gangshar in the summer of 1957 when Khenpo Gangshar went to Thrangu Monastery in eastern Tibet. While there, Khenpo Gangshar gave these instructions, which are a distillation of the essential points ofthe practices of both mahamudra and dzogchen. Later they were written down, first in a very short form and then as the slightly longer text known as "Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet." What makes them so beneficial for our time is that Khenpo Gangshar presents them in a way that is easy for anyone to understand and put into practice. (Source: Vivid Awareness, Translator's Introduction, pp. IX-X)
Rdzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal gso'i 'grel pa shing rta chen po
In his Relaxation in the Nature of Mind and its auto-commentary the Great Chariot, Longchenpa deals with buddha-nature in the opening verse while paying homage to the ultimate truth, in chapter 9 while discussing the generation-stage- and completion-stage practices, and in chapter 10 on the topic of wisdom which comprehends the ground reality free from the two extremes. He presents buddha-nature as the ground maṇḍala, which forms the basis of temporary confusion, while at the same time being the uncontrived, unborn, unchanging nature of the mind to be realized on the path. Ordinary beings do not perceive this buddha-nature, but bodhisattvas on the stages see it partially and the buddhas see it fully. Longchenpa blends the sūtra presentation of buddha-nature with the esoteric exposition of the spontaneous primordial ground in the tantras. He uses terms such as essence, element, spiritual gene, innate mind, pristine wisdom, vajra mind, primordial ground, the ultimate, ground gnosis, sphere of reality, Middle Way, nondual truth, thatness, Perfection of Wisdom, etc., to refer to the same luminous nature of mind which is buddha-nature.
Shes bya kun la khyab pa'i mdzod
In Tibetan religious literature, its ten books stand out as a unique masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental work, Jamgön Kongtrul presents an encyclopedic account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. (source: Tsadra Foundation's Treasury of Knowledge Series)
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i tshig don rnam par bshad pa rin chen sgron me
This is a commentary on Ratnagotravibhāga by the 69th Je Khenpo of Bhutan, Gendun Rinchen. The commentary was composed in 1983 at the request of his students when he was giving lectures on Ratnagotravibhāga in the Maitreya Temple at Phajoding, Bhutan. It is most likely the first commentary by a Bhutanese scholar. The author claims to have based his commentary on the annotated commentary of Khenpo Zhenga while also including the best of other commentaries by Tibetan masters.
Kālacakratantra
The Kālacakratantra is an early eleventh-century esoteric treatise belonging to the class of unexcelled yoga-tantras (anuttara-yoga-tantra). To the best of our knowledge, it was the last anuttara-yoga-tantra to appear in India.
According to the Kālacakra tradition, the extant version of the Kālacakratantra is an abridged version of the larger original tantra, called the Paramādibuddha, that was taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni to Sucandra, the king of Śambhala and an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, in the Dhānyakaṭaka stūpa, a notable center of Mahāyāna in the vicinity of the present-day village of Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. Upon receiving instruction on the Paramādibuddhatantra and returning to Śambhala, King Sucandra wrote it down and propagated it throughout his kingdom. His six successors continued to maintain the inherited tradition, and the eighth king of Śambhala, Mañjuśrī Yaśas, composed the abridged version of the Parāmadibuddhatantra, which is handed down to us as the Sovereign Abridged Kālacakratantra (Laghukālacakratantrarāja). It is traditionally taught that it is composed of 1,030 verses written in the sradgharā meter. However, various Sanskrit manuscripts and editions of the Laghukālacakratantra contain a somewhat larger number of verses, ranging from 1,037 to 1,047 verses. The term an “abridged tantra” (laghu-tantra) has a specific meaning in Indian Buddhist tantric tradition. Its traditional interpretation is given in Naḍapādas (Nāropā) Sekoddeśaṭīkā, which states that in every yoga, yoginī, and other types of tantras, the concise, general explanations (uddeśa) and specific explanations (nirdeśa) make up a tantric discourse (tantra-saṃgīti), and that discourse, which is an exposition (uddeśana) there, is an entire abridged tantra.
The tradition tells us that Mañjuśrī Yaśas's successor Puṇḍarīka, who was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara, composed a large commentary on the Kālacakratantra, called the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā), which became the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus. The place of the Vimalaprabhā in the Kālacakra literary corpus is of great importance, for in many instances, without the Vimalaprabhā, it would be practically impossible to understand not only the broader implications of the Kālacakratantra' cryptic verses and often grammatically corrupt sentences but their basic meanings. It has been said that the Kālacakratantra is explicit with regard to the tantric teachings that are often only implied in the other anuttara-yoga-tantras, but this explicitness is actually far more characteristic of the Vimalaprabhā than of the Kālacakratantra itself. (Source: Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: pp. 2-3.)
According to the Kālacakra tradition, the extant version of the Kālacakratantra is an abridged version of the larger original tantra, called the Paramādibuddha, that was taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni to Sucandra, the king of Śambhala and an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, in the Dhānyakaṭaka stūpa, a notable center of Mahāyāna in the vicinity of the present-day village of Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. Upon receiving instruction on the Paramādibuddhatantra and returning to Śambhala, King Sucandra wrote it down and propagated it throughout his kingdom. His six successors continued to maintain the inherited tradition, and the eighth king of Śambhala, Mañjuśrī Yaśas, composed the abridged version of the Parāmadibuddhatantra, which is handed down to us as the Sovereign Abridged Kālacakratantra (Laghukālacakratantrarāja). It is traditionally taught that it is composed of 1,030 verses written in the sradgharā meter. However, various Sanskrit manuscripts and editions of the Laghukālacakratantra contain a somewhat larger number of verses, ranging from 1,037 to 1,047 verses. The term an “abridged tantra” (laghu-tantra) has a specific meaning in Indian Buddhist tantric tradition. Its traditional interpretation is given in Naḍapādas (Nāropā) Sekoddeśaṭīkā, which states that in every yoga, yoginī, and other types of tantras, the concise, general explanations (uddeśa) and specific explanations (nirdeśa) make up a tantric discourse (tantra-saṃgīti), and that discourse, which is an exposition (uddeśana) there, is an entire abridged tantra.
The tradition tells us that Mañjuśrī Yaśas's successor Puṇḍarīka, who was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara, composed a large commentary on the Kālacakratantra, called the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā), which became the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus. The place of the Vimalaprabhā in the Kālacakra literary corpus is of great importance, for in many instances, without the Vimalaprabhā, it would be practically impossible to understand not only the broader implications of the Kālacakratantra' cryptic verses and often grammatically corrupt sentences but their basic meanings. It has been said that the Kālacakratantra is explicit with regard to the tantric teachings that are often only implied in the other anuttara-yoga-tantras, but this explicitness is actually far more characteristic of the Vimalaprabhā than of the Kālacakratantra itself. (Source: Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: pp. 2-3.)
Bka' bsdu bzhi pa'i don bstan rtsis chen po
The seminal work of Dölpopa often simply referred to as the Fourth Council. Structured around the notion of four eons drawn from the Kālacakra Tantra, it is one of the primary sources for Dölpopa's presentation of his other-emptiness (zhentong) philosophy.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan gyi lung sbyor
A supplement to Tāranātha's Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness (Gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyan) that focuses on the scriptural sources of the other-emptiness philosophy. The scriptural citations and reference which were barely mentioned or referred to in the Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness are quoted in full to substantiate the claims of the proponents of Other-Emptiness.
Chos dbyings du ma ro gcig bde gshegs snying po'i yon tan can gyi mdo sde
Dölpopa's responds to arguments against the theory that buddha-nature has the qualities of the buddha latent in it. He uses scriptural citations and reasonings to argue that the unconditioned buddha-nature must possess the qualities of the Buddha.
Chos kyi 'khor lo legs par gtan la phab pa theg pa chen po'i tshul 'ong ges zhus pa
These are teachings delivered by Drikung Kagyu master Jikten Sumgön that includes an account of the twelve great events of the buddha and the detailed explanation of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma and written down by his student Onge. The text also contains a praise of the Ultimate Continuum as containing the gist of the third wheel.
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos
The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse, which is essentially a synopsis of the Uttaratantra. According to Schaeffer, "This verse text (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa, or De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa) blends scriptural quotations from both sūtra and tantra with Rang byung's own words, creating an evocative picture of the relation between the primordially pure enlightened state- symbolized by the Enlightened Heart (snying po)- human existence, and Buddhahood. While Rang byung has relied heavily on the Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra, (known in Tibet as the Uttaratantra, or Rgyud bla ma), the syncretism of various strands of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna apparent in the text is particular to Tibet. Tathāgatagarbha, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Mahāmudrā, and Annuttarayogatantra all coalesce in this work, which is a testament to the hundreds of years of appropriation and synthesis of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought that preceded it. - Kurtis Schaeffer, from the introduction to The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood.
Dpon byang ba'i phyag tu phul ba'i chos kyi shan 'byed
A lengthy polemical work by Dölpopa that addresses various disputed philosophical positions. Pön Jangpa sent Dolpopa some polemical writings with a measure of gold as gift asking him to send him response. In response, Dölpopa wrote this treatise explaining how self-emptiness as many Tibetan scholars understood is not the ultimate truth but buddha-nature endowed with buddha qualities is.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan
A polemical work defending the other-emptiness view of the Jonang tradition that addresses the criticism of this position by other Tibetan schools. This discursive text discusses the provisional or ultimate nature of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, the position of Indian masters and philosophical schools, the intent of the Mahāyāna sūtras and the rebuts the criticism of other-emptiness by proponents of the self-emptiness theory in Tibet.
Gzhan stong snying po
A fairly brief work by Tāranātha on the basic tenets of the four systems of Buddhist philosophy, namely the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntrika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka. His exposition culminates with a presentation of the Great Madhyamaka, the pinnacle of the four, which is synonymous with other-emptiness as represented by the Jonang tradition.
Mahābherīsūtra
One of the so-called tathāgatagarbha sūtras that features teachings on buddha-nature. In this text buddha-nature is possessed by all sentient beings and is described as luminous and pure. It is also attributed characteristics, such as being permanent, eternal, everlasting, peaceful, and a self, that echo the four perfect qualities (guṇapāramitās) often ascribed to the dharmakāya when it is treated as a synonym for buddha-nature. It also connects tathāgatagarbha to the notion of a single vehicle and asserts the definitive nature of the buddha-nature teachings in general and within this sūtra in particular.
Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra
The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra is one of the main scriptural sources for buddha-nature in China and Tibet. Set around the time of Buddha's passing or Mahāparinirvāṇa, the sūtra contains teachings on buddha-nature equating it with the dharmakāya—that is, the complete enlightenment of a buddha. It also asserts that all sentient beings possess this nature as the buddhadhātu, or buddha-element, which thus acts as a cause, seed, or potential for all beings to attain enlightenment. Furthermore, the sūtra includes some salient features related to this concept, such as the single vehicle and the notion that the dharmakāya is endowed with the four pāramitās of permanence, bliss, purity, and a self.
It may be noted that there are three different texts with similar titles in the Chinese and Tibetan canons. Of the three Tibetan texts with Mahāparinirvāṇa in their title, a short one (Derge Kanjur, No. 121) called Āryamahāparinirvāṇasūtra contains prophecies of events in the centuries after the Buddha's Mahāparinirvāṇa but has nothing on buddha-nature. Thus, this is not the Mahāparinirvāṇāsūtra which is considered as a Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. The two which deal with buddha-nature are Mahāyānasūtras and contain detailed accounts of the final teachings of the Buddha. The first sūtra, the longer one covering two volumes of Derge Kanjur (mdo sde Nya and Ta) is a translation from Chinese while the second one is a translation from Sanskrit. They appear to be two different recensions of the same original sūtra as they have similar titles and overlapping content. However, the one translated from Chinese is much longer and also contains information on the events after the Buddha entered Mahāparinirvāṇa.
Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa
One of only two extant Sanskrit texts that comment on the Uttaratantra, this highly original work by Sajjana presents a contemplative approach to Maitreya's treatise from an author that was the veritable source for the Tibetan exegetical traditions spawned by his students Ngok Loden Sherab and Tsen Khawoche.
Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā
In the Tibetan tradition, which parses out the root verses and refers to that as the treatise (bstan bcos, śāstra), this title references the full text complete with the root verses and the accompanying prose commentary (rnam par bshad pa, vyākhyā). While the earlier Chinese tradition attributes authorship of both aspects of the text to the as of yet still mysterious figure of Sāramati, the Tibetan tradition attributes the treatise to the Bodhisattva Maitreya and this commentary to the illustrious founder of the Yogācāra school, Asaṅga. However, unlike the Chinese tradition which delineates different aspects of the text into the basic verses, the commentarial verses, and the prose commentary, the Tibetan tradition actually preserves two separate versions of the text we know as the Ratnagotravibhāga.
The first, made up entirely of the so-called root verses, corresponds to the Sanskrit title Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, though it is usually referenced in this tradition by the Tibetan equivalent of the latter subtitle, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos, which is commonly rendered into English as the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle and is abbreviated as RGV. However, the full title, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos dkon mchog gi rigs rnam par dbye ba, does appear at the end of each chapter of the canonical Tibetan recensions. Nevertheless, this version is likely a Tibetan redaction, in that thus far there is no evidence of a Sanskrit version written entirely in verse that excludes the commentarial sections that explain them.
The second, which combines the verses with their accompanying prose commentary, corresponds to the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā as it has become known in academic circles where it is referenced with the abbreviation RGVV. However, in Tibetan the subtitle is merely appended with the equivalent of vyākhyā, i.e. Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa, and thus a translation of the Tibetan title of the complete text would be something akin to the Explanatory Commentary on the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle. However, the extant Sanskrit recension of the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra directly corresponds to the Tibetan version known as the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, in that it contains both the root verses and the prose commentary. Though, again, lacking a Sanskrit work entitled the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, we can surmise that its corresponding Tibetan title was likely manufactured in order to delineate it from the streamlined verse redaction, while the Sanskrit title *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā was in turn a product of modern scholars. On the surface it would seem that this title is a combination of the Chinese title back translated into Sanskrit as the Ratnagotraśāstra and the one found in the Tibetan editions, which state the Sanskrit title as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhya. Nevertheless, in terms of content, the Sanskrit RGV corresponds to the Tibetan RGVV, in that the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra is the same text as Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa.
Also, see the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra and for a recent essay on the text: On the Ratnagotravibhāga by Alexander Gardner.Rgyud bla ma'i sgom rim mi pham dgongs don
This short text by Rongtön Sheja Kunrig contains instructions on how to put the topics contained in the Ultimate Continuum into actual practice. It is among the many practical instructions he has written pertaining to the classical texts which are widely studied in Tibetan scholarly centres. In the course of providing practical instructions, Rongtön makes clear his philosophical understanding of buddha-nature and his interpretation of the teachings on buddha-nature.
Śrīmālādevīsūtra
One of the more prominent sūtra sources for the Ratnagotravibhāga, this text tells of the story of Śrīmālādevī taking up the Buddhist path at the behest of her royal parents based on a prophecy of the Buddha. It includes mention of important concepts related to the teachings on buddha-nature, such as the single vehicle and the four perfections, or transcendent characteristics, of the dharmakāya. It also mentions the notion that buddha-nature, which is equated with mind's luminous nature, is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of its limitless inseparable qualities. In his commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga, Asaṅga quotes this sūtra more than any other source text. In particular, it is considered a source for the fifth of the seven vajra topics, enlightenment.
Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa
The first Tibetan commentary written on the Uttaratantra by the translator of the only extant Tibetan translation of the treatise. Furthermore, since the author is also the namesake of the Ngok tradition (rngog lugs) of exegesis of the Uttaratantra, known for its analytic take on the work, this text was highly influential in the conception of a uniquely Tibetan approach to the Uttaratantra and the notion of buddha-nature.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa nges don gsal bar byed pa'i 'od zer
This work presents a late (14th century) Kadampa view on the Ratnagotravibhāga and the associated buddha-nature teachings by an influential representative of this tradition, often referred to as "the second Asaṅga" (thogs med gnyis pa).
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel ba gsal ba nyi ma'i snying po
Dumowa Tashi Özer's commentary on the Uttaratantra that is based on the Third Karmapa’s topical outline or summary (bsdus don).
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs bshad nyi ma'i 'od zer
Dölpopa's commentary on the Uttaratantra, which, although it doesn't actually use the term "other-emptiness", is an important precursor and source to the formulation of his unique Zhentong view found in his seminal work Mountain Dharma: An Ocean of Definitive Meaning (ri chos nges don rgya mtsho).
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa
An extensive explanatory commentary on the the Ultimate Continuum by one of the major scholastic voices of the Sakya school. As Bernert states, "Refuting, on one hand, the notion that Buddha-nature is synonymous with mere emptiness, and on the other that the mind is inherently endowed with the Buddha qualities, Rongtön argues for an understanding of Buddha-nature that embraces both aspects of the nature of mind: cognizance and emptiness." (Christian Bernert. Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature, 2018.
Limited
People with this position
Texts with this position
Madhyamakāvatāra
In Sanskrit, “Entrance to the Middle Way” (translated also as “Supplement to the Middle Way”); the major independent (as opposed to commentarial) work of the seventh-century Indian master
Candrakīrti, who states that it is intended as an avatāra (variously rendered as “primer,” “entrance,” and “supplement”) to Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The work is written in verse, to which the author provides an extensive prose commentary (bhāṣya). The work is organized around ten “productions of the aspiration to enlightenment” (bodhicittotpāda), which correspond to the ten stages (bhūmi) of the bodhisattva path (drawn largely from the Daśabhūmikasūtra) and their respective perfections (pāramitā), describing the salient practices and attainments of each. These are followed by chapters on the qualities of the bodhisattva, on the stage of buddhahood, and a conclusion. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 489.)
Provisional or Definitive[edit]
Buddhist scholars classify all doctrine as either definitive or provisional. Concepts and statements are deemed definitive when they accurately describe reality. Those that do not, or require considerable interpretation, but are nonetheless of practical value, are provisional. Buddha-nature has generated considerable controversy since the theory was first developed in the early centuries of the Common Era. Some commentators have suggested that the concept was initially offered as a palliative for those who feared emptiness as taught by the Mahāyāna. It was also a guarantee for those who might be dissuaded from a path to salvation that was said to take near-infinite lifetimes to traverse. As such, the concept was plainly intended as a provisional teaching, an encouragement to those on and not yet on the path, but not actually true. Yet buddha-nature scriptures are remarkably vague, allowing for a wide range of definitions and interpretations. Beginning in the eleventh century with the popularity of Ratnagotravibhāga, the famous commentary on the buddha-nature sūtras, theorists began to debate over whether the scriptures were to be taken as definitive or provisional. Candrakīrti, like most Indian Madhyamaka philosophers, deemed tathāgatagarbha to be provisional, for it did not conform to their standard teachings on emptiness- a position that was furthered by most Tibetan scholars of the Sakya and Geluk traditions. On the other hand, early Kadam scholars, such as Ngok and Chapa who were also staunch Mādhyamikas, took buddha-nature to be definitive by equating it directly with the emptiness taught as the ultimate in Madhyamaka philosophy. This view of tathāgatagarbha as definitive was also shared by certain Sakya scholars that inherited Ngok's scholastic tradition, as well by Tibetans that gravitated toward the other-emptiness (zhentong) interpretation of Madhyamaka, such as those of the Kagyu and Jonang traditions, as well as many Nyingma scholars that took both the second and third wheel teachings to be definitive in nature.
Provisional
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Texts with this position
Bde gshegs snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
Butön's study on the theory of the tathāgatagarbha written in 1359. In this text he argues that the teachings on buddha-nature are of an expedient or provisional meaning, which is a position that is typical of the Sakya view as set forth by Sakya Paṇḍita and others. He backs up this position with citations from the Ghanavyūhasūtra, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra, the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra, and the Ratnagotravibhāga.
The Summary of the Ultimate Continuum: Clarifying the Meaning of Buddha-Nature
In this short work, the famous Sakya scholar Rendawa presents his interpretation of and positions on the main topics covered by the Ultimate Continuum. While summarising the text, he points out how buddha-nature is to be understood as the luminous nature of the mind, and not as an absolute nature separate from the luminous aspect of the mind. He argues that buddha-nature, which is present in all sentient beings, is endowed with the universal quality of luminosity of the mind but not with the specific enlightened qualities of the Buddha. Thus, employing the common hermeneutic tools of reference,་purpose and direct contradiction, he considered the teachings on buddha-nature to be provisional teachings, which are not to be taken literally.
Madhyamakāvatāra
In Sanskrit, “Entrance to the Middle Way” (translated also as “Supplement to the Middle Way”); the major independent (as opposed to commentarial) work of the seventh-century Indian master
Candrakīrti, who states that it is intended as an avatāra (variously rendered as “primer,” “entrance,” and “supplement”) to Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The work is written in verse, to which the author provides an extensive prose commentary (bhāṣya). The work is organized around ten “productions of the aspiration to enlightenment” (bodhicittotpāda), which correspond to the ten stages (bhūmi) of the bodhisattva path (drawn largely from the Daśabhūmikasūtra) and their respective perfections (pāramitā), describing the salient practices and attainments of each. These are followed by chapters on the qualities of the bodhisattva, on the stage of buddhahood, and a conclusion. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 489.)
Rgyud bla ma'i sgom rim mi pham dgongs don
This short text by Rongtön Sheja Kunrig contains instructions on how to put the topics contained in the Ultimate Continuum into actual practice. It is among the many practical instructions he has written pertaining to the classical texts which are widely studied in Tibetan scholarly centres. In the course of providing practical instructions, Rongtön makes clear his philosophical understanding of buddha-nature and his interpretation of the teachings on buddha-nature.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa
An extensive explanatory commentary on the the Ultimate Continuum by one of the major scholastic voices of the Sakya school. As Bernert states, "Refuting, on one hand, the notion that Buddha-nature is synonymous with mere emptiness, and on the other that the mind is inherently endowed with the Buddha qualities, Rongtön argues for an understanding of Buddha-nature that embraces both aspects of the nature of mind: cognizance and emptiness." (Christian Bernert. Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature, 2018.
Definitive
People with this position
Texts with this position
Sekoddeśa
This is the first tantric text in the Kangyur canon related to the Kālacakra cycle. It is a summary of the third chapter of the longer Kālacakra tantra dealing with the ritual of initiation or empowerment. The Kālacakra teachings presents a unique set of seven initiations to conduct the ordinary/childlike initiate (བྱིས་པ་འཇུག་པའི་དབང་བདུན་) and then the four main initiations of the vase, secret, wisdom and word, which are also divided into two sets of the conventional and superior types. The Kālacakra cycle is considered to be very explicit in revealing the luminous nature of the mind through these initiatory rituals and tantric methods employing bodily energy and fluids.
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa'i bzhes dgongs dbu tshad kyi gzhung spyi dang gung bsgrigs te spyod pa'i spyi don rab gsal snang ba
An explanation of the general meaning of the scriptures on Madhyamaka (dbu ma) and pramāṇa (tshad ma) by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940).
Sher snying gi tshig 'grel
Tāranātha presents an interpretation of the Heart Sūtra in accordance with his philosophical espousal of the other-emptiness in this short word-for-word commentary. At the very outset, he states in this commentary that the main referent of the term Perfection of Wisdom is buddha-nature, the non-dual wisdom which is the true nature of all phenomena. This, he argues, is not empty of its nature. The Heart Sūtra sufficiently makes it clear that the five skandhas and other conventional phenomena are empty of their nature, but not buddha-nature or the ultimate truth. ‘Form is emptiness’ indicates that form is utterly non-existent and empty. ‘Emptiness is form’ indicates that emptiness, which is the ultimate reality, is what appears as form to ordinary beings. ‘Emptiness is not other than form’ shows there is no emptiness which exists separately from form but reality qua emptiness is rather the true nature of form. ‘Form is not other than emptiness’ states there is no real form that is different from emptiness in the ultimate sense, because emptiness qua reality exists whereas form doesn’t.
Zab mo nang don
Rang byung's most famous, and perhaps most difficult work is yet another verse text, his Zab mo nang don, on the Anuttarayogatantras. This eleven-chapter work is thirty-two folios in length. According to a colophon provided by Kong sprul, it was written in the Water Male Dog year, 1322, at Bde chen steng. The colophons to the present redactions say only that it was written in the Dog Year. (Source: Schaeffer, K., The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood, p. 16)
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i tshig don rnam par bshad pa rin chen sgron me
This is a commentary on Ratnagotravibhāga by the 69th Je Khenpo of Bhutan, Gendun Rinchen. The commentary was composed in 1983 at the request of his students when he was giving lectures on Ratnagotravibhāga in the Maitreya Temple at Phajoding, Bhutan. It is most likely the first commentary by a Bhutanese scholar. The author claims to have based his commentary on the annotated commentary of Khenpo Zhenga while also including the best of other commentaries by Tibetan masters.
Kun tu bzang po'i smon lam stobs po che
The Powerful Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra comes from the dGongs pa zang thal or Penetrating Intent cycle of Dzogchen teachings by Rigdzin Gödem. The prayer explains how saṃsāra and nirvāṇa emerge from the same ground of primordial reality through awareness and unawareness. The cognitive glitch of dualistic clinging and ego-grasping is explained to have led to the many afflictive emotions and the corresponding resultant states of rebirth. The prayers instructs practitioners to rest in the natural state of the mind without attachment or aversion. The prayer is very widely chanted in the Himalayan communities.
Deb ther sngon po
The famous historical work by Gö Lotsawa Zhönu Pal (1392-1481), likely referenced by more scholars than any other single work. It was translated into English by G. Roerich with the help of Gendün Chöpel.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan gyi lung sbyor
A supplement to Tāranātha's Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness (Gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyan) that focuses on the scriptural sources of the other-emptiness philosophy. The scriptural citations and reference which were barely mentioned or referred to in the Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness are quoted in full to substantiate the claims of the proponents of Other-Emptiness.
Gzhan stong khas len seng ge'i nga ro
Mipam's other "lion's roar"—his Lion's Roar: Affirming Other Emptiness—shows the way he establishes an other-emptiness view that affirms the existence of the ultimate truth as not empty of its own essence.
(Source: Duckworth, Douglas. Jamgön Mipham: His Life and Teachings. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2011: p 58.)
Zab lam khrid kyi man ngag 'phrad tshad rang grol
Thrangu Rinpoche met Khenpo Gangshar in the summer of 1957 when Khenpo Gangshar went to Thrangu Monastery in eastern Tibet. While there, Khenpo Gangshar gave these instructions, which are a distillation of the essential points ofthe practices of both mahamudra and dzogchen. Later they were written down, first in a very short form and then as the slightly longer text known as "Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet." What makes them so beneficial for our time is that Khenpo Gangshar presents them in a way that is easy for anyone to understand and put into practice. (Source: Vivid Awareness, Translator's Introduction, pp. IX-X)
'phags ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i dka' 'grel 'gran zla med pa'i rgyal po tshig le'ur byas pa
One of the Tāranātha's three commentaries on the Heart Sūtra, he presents the ultimate purport of the sūtras as being the ultimate other-emptiness. He comments on the sūtra and its transmission in verses, a very rare style for a work considered to be a commentary. Like his short word for word commentary and the detailed exegesis, this verse commentary explains the Heart Sūtra in accordance with the theories of other-emptiness. Tāranātha also claims he is unique in showing how the Heart Sūtra also captures the hidden themes of the eight topics discussed in some other longer versions of Perfection of Wisdom texts. The commentary was written when Tāranātha was 29 by Tibetan reckoning.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi nges don gsal bar byed pa'i rin po che'i gron me
An extensive commentary on the Uttaratantra written by a contemporary of Dölpopa and Butön during the height of the debate over the definitive nature of the treatise and its teaching on buddha-nature. Lodrö Tsungme presents an interpretation of buddha-nature which is different from what is given by many masters of Sangphu including Ngok Loden Sherab. As his position are quite similar to what Longchenpa espoused later, the commentary was mistakenly attributed to Longchenpa by some Nyingma followers.
Shes bya kun la khyab pa'i mdzod
In Tibetan religious literature, its ten books stand out as a unique masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental work, Jamgön Kongtrul presents an encyclopedic account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. (source: Tsadra Foundation's Treasury of Knowledge Series)
Chen po gzhan stong gi lta ba dang 'brel ba'i phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam gyi rnam bshad nges don dbyings kyi rol mo
A clear explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer in colloquial Tibetan by a leading contemporary Karma Kagyu master Sangay Nyenpa Rinpoche.
Rdzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal gso'i 'grel pa shing rta chen po
In his Relaxation in the Nature of Mind and its auto-commentary the Great Chariot, Longchenpa deals with buddha-nature in the opening verse while paying homage to the ultimate truth, in chapter 9 while discussing the generation-stage- and completion-stage practices, and in chapter 10 on the topic of wisdom which comprehends the ground reality free from the two extremes. He presents buddha-nature as the ground maṇḍala, which forms the basis of temporary confusion, while at the same time being the uncontrived, unborn, unchanging nature of the mind to be realized on the path. Ordinary beings do not perceive this buddha-nature, but bodhisattvas on the stages see it partially and the buddhas see it fully. Longchenpa blends the sūtra presentation of buddha-nature with the esoteric exposition of the spontaneous primordial ground in the tantras. He uses terms such as essence, element, spiritual gene, innate mind, pristine wisdom, vajra mind, primordial ground, the ultimate, ground gnosis, sphere of reality, Middle Way, nondual truth, thatness, Perfection of Wisdom, etc., to refer to the same luminous nature of mind which is buddha-nature.
Bka' bsdu bzhi pa'i don bstan rtsis chen po
The seminal work of Dölpopa often simply referred to as the Fourth Council. Structured around the notion of four eons drawn from the Kālacakra Tantra, it is one of the primary sources for Dölpopa's presentation of his other-emptiness (zhentong) philosophy.
Phyi nang grub mtha'i rnam bzhag gi bsdus don blo gsal yid kyi rgyan bzang
A condensed presentation of the tenets of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist philosophical systems by a modern Jonang scholar. This treatise presents the main advocates, the main literary sources, the view or ground reality, the practice on the path and resultant states. The highest Buddhist tenet system, the Mādhyamika school, is divided into the rangtong or the self-emptiness sub-school and the zhentong or the other-emptiness sub-school.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i rnam bshad don dam rnam nges bsdus pa'i snying po'i snying po
In his commentary [Gendun Özer] mentions that he composed it for his students who had requested that he write something that would differ from the "coarse explanation" (bshad nyog rtsing po) of the Uttaratantra offered by the "early commentators" (snga rabs pa) of the Kadam tradition. While Gendün Özer does not intend to succumb to a "coarse explanation" of the Indian treatise, he follows his early Kadam predecessors' exposition in terms of doctrinal position, even though his literary style is different, with numerous poetic verses of admiration. In this time period it is not surprising that he wrote the commentary primarily in consultation with Ngok's Tibetan translation (rngog 'gyur) of the Uttaratantra, but the author also used the translations made by Naktso and Patsap wherever necessary.
(Source: Tsering Wangchuk. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, 59.)
Lung rigs gnyis kyis phyag rgya chen po'i bzhed tshul la 'khrul pa sel ba'i bstan bcos zung 'jug gru chen
One of the three short texts on Mahāmudrā by Śākya Choden, this was written in response to a list of questions raised by a certain scholar named Karma Wangchuk Pel with regard to Sakya Paṇḍita’s critique of Neo-Mahāmudrā and Single White Remedy in his Distinguishing the Three Vows.
He begins with a cogent presentation of Mahāmudrā covering its sources, the objective Mahāmudrā, the subjective Mahāmudrā, its synonyms, the actual Mahāmudra experience among sublime beings, the analogous Mahāmudrā understanding among ordinary practitioners, and the Mahāmudrā concept according to the philosophical and tantric schools. Following this, he delves into how some later followers of Sakya and Kagyu tradition do not fathom the understanding of their respective teachings. He als points out how the followers of Kadampa tradition have missed the important original teachings of Atīśa and founding fathers.
In summary, Śākya Chokden underscores the point that there are two ways in which misconceptions are overcome: through an extrovert rational analysis and an introvert yogic contemplation. The Mahāmudrā tradition of Gampopa belongs to the latter category while the former includes the postulations of self-emptiness and other-emptiness.Theg pa chen po'i bstan bcos rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa
A commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga by the famed scholar Bodong Paṇchen Chokle Namgyal. He considers this text a connector between sūtra and mantra traditions and argues that buddha-nature does not possess the qualities of the Buddha but is luminous and pure by nature.
Yid bzhin mdzod kyi 'grel pa pad+ma dkar po
The root text of the Treasury of Wishfulling Jewel along with its auto-commentary the White Lotus make up one of main books among the Seven Treasures of Longchenpa. In chapter 1 of his Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel, he expounds the theory of buddha-nature as the primordial ground from which both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra arise. In chapter 18 he discusses the abiding nature of reality, which is the ultimate truth, and presents the experiences of saṃsāra as temporary illusions arising from adventitious misconception. Buddha-nature is understood to be the empty, luminous nature of things which abides as the ontic reality in all sentient beings and is free from all fabrications. Using the terms from the sūtras teaching buddha-nature and the Ultimate Continuum, he characterizes buddha-nature as the ultimate pure, eternal, blissful self. He considers the teachings on buddha-nature which form part of the third wheel as definitive teachings, which expound the same ground nature presented in both the sūtra and tantra literature. In summary, he writes in the Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel:
འོད་གསལ་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་སྟེ། །སྟོང་གསལ་རིག་པ་དབྱེར་མེད་ཆོས་ཉིད་དོ།། The luminous buddha-nature is indivisible reality Which is spontaneous, empty, and clear awareness.
His presentation on buddha-nature theory and associated practices in his writings became the most authoritative references which determine the interpretation of buddha-nature theory and practice in the Nyingma tradition to this day.Gzhan stong chen mo
Along with Dol po pa's Ri chos Nge don Rgya mtsho and Tāranātha’s Dbu ma Theg mchog Rab dbyed Brgyad, the Gzhan stong Chen mo comprises the third major textbook studied within the Gzhan stong Madhyamaka curriculum at major Jonang monastic universities, including 'Dzam thang Dgon pa, Bswe Dgon pa and Lcam mda' Dgon pa. For pedagogical reasons, and because of the structure of Mkhan po Blo grags' work, monks generally begin by studying sūtra gzhan stong separately from tantric gzhan stong in preparation for examining Dol po pa's synthetic masterpiece interweaving sūtra and tantra. In a coherent structure identical to the Ri chos, the Gzhan stong Chen mo presents gzhan stong philosophical thinking systematically in accord with the outline of ground (gzhi), path (lam) and fruition ('bras bu), treating sūtra gzhan stong within the main body of the text and tantric gzhan stong as an appendix.
Michael Sheehy, 2007.
Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i mdo rnam par bshad pa sngon med legs bshad
In this commentary on the Heart Sūtra, Tāranātha starts with the discussion of the different forms of Perfection of Wisdom in relation to the nature of phenomena, the path to enlightenment, the resultant state, and the doctrinal teachings which discuss the topic. He cites Dignāga to claim that the true Perfection of Wisdom is the resultant wisdom of the buddhas. However, the most important point he underscores is that the ultimate message of all three Turning of the Wheels and the Heart Sūtra is the great other-emptiness. All conventional phenomena are primordially empty of their own nature but the ultimate nature is only empty of other conventional phenomena but not empty of its own nature. This, he argues, is the ultimate truth, the reality and the intent of all buddhas.
Commenting on the four statements on form and emptiness in the Heart Sūtra, he presents what he considers to be the interpretations among the proponents of the Mind Only (སེམས་ཙམ་པ་) and Naturelessness (ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པར་སྨྲ་བ་), both of which are acceptable in certain contexts but do not capture the ultimate reality. The ultimate understanding, he reasons, must be obtained by putting the four statements in the context of the three characteristics (མཚན་ཉིད་གསུམ་). He goes on to explain how the four statements should be understood in relation to the imputed nature, the dependent nature and the consummate nature, through which one can grasp the meaning of the emptiness of that which is non-existent (མེད་པའི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་), the emptiness of that which is existent (ཡོད་པའི་སྟོང་ཉིད་), and the emptiness of true nature (རང་བཞིན་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་) taught by Maitreya.
Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā
In Sanskrit, the “Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras”; one of the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga) said to have been presented to Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tuṣita heaven. Written in verse, the text offers a systematic presentation of the practices of the bodhisattva from the standpoint of the Yogācāra school and is one of the most important of the Indian Mahāyāna śāstras. Its twenty-one chapters deal with (1) the proof that the Mahāyāna sūtras are the word of the Buddha; (2) taking refuge in the three jewels (ratnatraya); (3) the lineage (gotra) of enlightenment necessary to undertake the bodhisattva path; (4) the generation of the aspiration to enlightenment (bodhicittotpāda); (5) the practice of the bodhisattva; (6) the nature of reality, described from the Yogācāra perspective; (7) the attainment of power by the bodhisattva; (8) the methods of bringing oneself and others to maturation; (9) enlightenment and the three bodies of a buddha (trikāya); (10) faith in the Mahāyāna; (11) seeking complete knowledge of the dharma; (12) teaching the dharma; (13) practicing in accordance with the dharma; (14) the precepts and instructions received by the bodhisattva; (15) the skillful methods of the bodhisattva; (16) the six perfections (pāramitā) and the four means of conversion (saṃgrahavastu), through which bodhisattvas attract and retain disciples; (17) the worship of the Buddha; (18) the constituents of enlightenment (bodhipākṣikadharma); (19) the qualities of the bodhisattva; and (20-21) the consummation of the bodhisattva path and the attainment of buddhahood. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 514)
Dbu ma'i byung tshul rnam par bshad pa'i gtam yid bzhin lhun po zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
A history of the Madhyamaka philosophy in India and Tibet written by Śākya Chokden between 1484-1490 in Lhasa with Kongtön Chökyi Gyaltsen as scribe. In this text, he defines what is a Middle Way and presents the transmission of different Middle Way thoughts.
Phyag rgya chen po'i shan 'byed ces bya ba'i bstan bcos
The second work in Śākya Chokden's trilogy of short writings on Mahāmudra, he points out in this text a list of the five types of misinterpretation of the actual point of Mahāmudrā practice:
1. The emptiness posited through Mādhyamika reasoning. 2. The union of emptiness and bliss which fills the network of channels after tantric practice of consecration. 3. Experience of bare consciousness free from all mentation. 4. Non-apprehension of the mind either inside or outside, having colour and shape, etc. 5. The ground consciousness which is the cause of all experience.
Śākya Choden states that none of these capture the profound, precise, effective Mahāmudrā technique of Gampopa, which is compared to the Single White Remedy, and explains how they are not the same as Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā. Śākya Chokden also distinguishes the Chinese Chan practice from Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā and goes on to explain their differences. He elaborates on the practice of Mahāmudrā through the four points of single-pointedness (རྩེ་གཅིག་), non-elaboration (སྤྲོས་བྲལ་), one taste (རོ་གཅིག་), and non-meditation (སྒོམ་མེད་).Mnyam med dwags po'i chos bzhir grags pa'i gzhung gi 'grel pa snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
A detailed commentary on Gampopa's Four Dharmas (chos bzhi) instruction for fundamental Buddhist practice. The root verses containing the four dharma of Gampopa were written by his learned student from Laya, Jangchub Ngödup exactly according to how Gampopa taught, and the extensive commentary containing a rich array of citations and arguments was authored by Jangchub Ngödup himself. The topic four dharmas of Gampopa refers to the four points of making dharma practice a genuine dharma practice, making dharma progress on the path, dispelling confusion on the path, and see confusion as pristine wisdom.
Dam pa'i chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i rnam bshad lung don gsal byed legs bshad nyi ma'i snang ba
Rikdzin Chökyi Drakpa's extensive commentary on the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa), one of the core texts of the Drikung Kagyu tradition that is reported to be the oral teachings of Jikten Gönpo that were written down and edited together by his student Sherab Jungne.
Grub mtha' mdzod
This book is among the Seven Treasures Longchenpa composed. The Seven Treasures today represent the best Tibetan literary collection for the systemisation of the Dzogchen tradition. In his Treasury of Tenet Systems, Longchenpa carries a detailed exegesis of the buddha-nature in chapter 4 on the spiritual gene required for the practice of Mahāyāna path. He cites several sūtras and many critical verses from the Ultimate Continuum, on which he comments to make clear his interpretation of buddha-nature teachings. He considers buddhahood as being identical with buddha-nature latent in all sentient beings and argues that buddhahood is a result which is revealed rather than a fruit which is cultivated and produced. Thus, all qualities of the Buddha are primordially present in the nature of all sentient beings.
Theg mchog shin tu rgyas pa'i dbu ma chen po rnam par nges pa'i rnam bshad zin bris dbu phyogs legs pa
A collection of explanatory notes on Tāranātha's Theg mchog shin tu rgyas pa'i dbu ma chen po rnam par nges pa compiled by his disciple Yeshe Gyamtso, the book presents in detail the concepts of the Middle Way, the understanding of the ground, general phenomenology, Buddhist theories of consciousness and Mahāyāna path leading to Buddhahood, which is considered to be a quality latent in all sentient beings obscured by adventitious afflictions. The notes on the last two chapters were either not written or lost. Lobsang Chogdrub Gyatso added the commentary on the last two chapters in 1894.
Chos kyi dbyings su bstod pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa chos kyi dbyings rnam par nges pa
In this commentary on Nāgārjuna's Dharmadhātustava, the renowned Sakya scholar Śākya Chokden reasons that he wrote this commentary because many scholars misunderstand dharmadhātu or sphere of reality to be mere emptiness that is non-implicative negative and do not understand that it has a luminous aspect of awareness.
Kālacakratantra
The Kālacakratantra is an early eleventh-century esoteric treatise belonging to the class of unexcelled yoga-tantras (anuttara-yoga-tantra). To the best of our knowledge, it was the last anuttara-yoga-tantra to appear in India.
According to the Kālacakra tradition, the extant version of the Kālacakratantra is an abridged version of the larger original tantra, called the Paramādibuddha, that was taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni to Sucandra, the king of Śambhala and an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, in the Dhānyakaṭaka stūpa, a notable center of Mahāyāna in the vicinity of the present-day village of Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. Upon receiving instruction on the Paramādibuddhatantra and returning to Śambhala, King Sucandra wrote it down and propagated it throughout his kingdom. His six successors continued to maintain the inherited tradition, and the eighth king of Śambhala, Mañjuśrī Yaśas, composed the abridged version of the Parāmadibuddhatantra, which is handed down to us as the Sovereign Abridged Kālacakratantra (Laghukālacakratantrarāja). It is traditionally taught that it is composed of 1,030 verses written in the sradgharā meter. However, various Sanskrit manuscripts and editions of the Laghukālacakratantra contain a somewhat larger number of verses, ranging from 1,037 to 1,047 verses. The term an “abridged tantra” (laghu-tantra) has a specific meaning in Indian Buddhist tantric tradition. Its traditional interpretation is given in Naḍapādas (Nāropā) Sekoddeśaṭīkā, which states that in every yoga, yoginī, and other types of tantras, the concise, general explanations (uddeśa) and specific explanations (nirdeśa) make up a tantric discourse (tantra-saṃgīti), and that discourse, which is an exposition (uddeśana) there, is an entire abridged tantra.
The tradition tells us that Mañjuśrī Yaśas's successor Puṇḍarīka, who was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara, composed a large commentary on the Kālacakratantra, called the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā), which became the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus. The place of the Vimalaprabhā in the Kālacakra literary corpus is of great importance, for in many instances, without the Vimalaprabhā, it would be practically impossible to understand not only the broader implications of the Kālacakratantra' cryptic verses and often grammatically corrupt sentences but their basic meanings. It has been said that the Kālacakratantra is explicit with regard to the tantric teachings that are often only implied in the other anuttara-yoga-tantras, but this explicitness is actually far more characteristic of the Vimalaprabhā than of the Kālacakratantra itself. (Source: Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: pp. 2-3.)
According to the Kālacakra tradition, the extant version of the Kālacakratantra is an abridged version of the larger original tantra, called the Paramādibuddha, that was taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni to Sucandra, the king of Śambhala and an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, in the Dhānyakaṭaka stūpa, a notable center of Mahāyāna in the vicinity of the present-day village of Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. Upon receiving instruction on the Paramādibuddhatantra and returning to Śambhala, King Sucandra wrote it down and propagated it throughout his kingdom. His six successors continued to maintain the inherited tradition, and the eighth king of Śambhala, Mañjuśrī Yaśas, composed the abridged version of the Parāmadibuddhatantra, which is handed down to us as the Sovereign Abridged Kālacakratantra (Laghukālacakratantrarāja). It is traditionally taught that it is composed of 1,030 verses written in the sradgharā meter. However, various Sanskrit manuscripts and editions of the Laghukālacakratantra contain a somewhat larger number of verses, ranging from 1,037 to 1,047 verses. The term an “abridged tantra” (laghu-tantra) has a specific meaning in Indian Buddhist tantric tradition. Its traditional interpretation is given in Naḍapādas (Nāropā) Sekoddeśaṭīkā, which states that in every yoga, yoginī, and other types of tantras, the concise, general explanations (uddeśa) and specific explanations (nirdeśa) make up a tantric discourse (tantra-saṃgīti), and that discourse, which is an exposition (uddeśana) there, is an entire abridged tantra.
The tradition tells us that Mañjuśrī Yaśas's successor Puṇḍarīka, who was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara, composed a large commentary on the Kālacakratantra, called the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā), which became the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus. The place of the Vimalaprabhā in the Kālacakra literary corpus is of great importance, for in many instances, without the Vimalaprabhā, it would be practically impossible to understand not only the broader implications of the Kālacakratantra' cryptic verses and often grammatically corrupt sentences but their basic meanings. It has been said that the Kālacakratantra is explicit with regard to the tantric teachings that are often only implied in the other anuttara-yoga-tantras, but this explicitness is actually far more characteristic of the Vimalaprabhā than of the Kālacakratantra itself. (Source: Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: pp. 2-3.)
Vimalaprabhā
A crucial commentary to the Kālacakra Tantra purported to have been written by Kalkī Śrī Puṇḍarīka, the fabled Second King of Shambhala also known as Kulika Puṇḍarīka, though in the Tibetan tradition the work is sometimes attributed to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara whom Puṇḍarīka was considered to be an emanation of. In the Tibetan tradition it is counted among the Three Cycles of Bodhisattva Commentaries (Sems 'grel skor gsum), which are a trilogy of canonical commentaries attributed to the transcendent Bodhisattvas Vajrapaṇi, Vajragarbha, and Avalokiteśvara on the Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, and Kālacakra Tantras, respectively.
Zab mo gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyud 'debs
Tāranātha's lineage supplication to the other-emptiness Madhyamaka tradition that was preserved by the Jonang school. Tāranātha traces the origin of the other-emptiness to the Buddha, who passed it down through Maitreya, Asaṅga, Vasubandhu to Maitripa or from Vasubandhu through Sthiramati, Guṇamāti, et al. to Maitrīpa, or from Buddha through Vajrapaṇi, Rahulabhadra, Nāgārjuna, Śabari, Maitrīpa, from Maitrīpa through Anandakīrti, Ratnakaraśānti, Sajjṇāna, Anandavajra, then in Tibet through Tsen Khawoche, et al. until Tāranātha.
Mdo rgyud rin po che'i mdzod
In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa chen po'i dgongs pa gzhan stong dbu ma'i tshul legs pa bshad mthar 'dzin gdung 'phrog
A treatise on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Other-Emptiness (gzhan stong) as inherited from Dölpopa by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940). Tsoknyi Gyatso explains the system of the ground, path and result in this text, followed by a synopsis of the Ultimate Continuum.
Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i kar TIka chen mo
The 8th Karmapa's commentary on the famous treatise, the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa) by Drikungpa master Jikten Gönpo. The Single Intention is a compendium of critical philosophical, soteriological, and moral positions taught by Jikten Gönpo and written down by his disciple and nephew Sherab Jungne. The text contains 150 critical vajra words (རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུང་) in seven groups (ཚོམས་), along with another 47 appended points (ལྷན་ཐབས་). The root text composed by Sherab Jungne has seen several commentaries, including one by the first Drikung Chungtsang Chökyi Drakpa. This extensive commentary by the 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje is perhaps the only long commentary by Karma Kagyu master on the Single Intention.
Phyag rgya chen po gsal bar byed pa'i bstan bcos tshangs pa'i 'khor los gzhan blo'i dregs pa nyams byed
In this book, Śākya Chokden seeks to explain the luminous nature of the mind which he says is also popularly given the name Mahāmudrā in Tibet (སེམས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་འོད་གསལ་ལ།། ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོའི་མཚན་གསོལ་ནས། །གངས་ཅན་ལྗོངས་སུ་ཆེར་གྲགས་པ། །དེ་ཉིད་མདོ་ཙམ་གསལ་བར་བྱ།།). In elucidating the Mahāmudrā advocated by Gampopa, he presents a detailed explanation of it by pointing out that the Mahāmudrā in this context is the luminous nature of the mind, which is common to all Mahāyāna traditions, and the one which is explicitly taught in the works of Maitreya, particularly in the Ultimate Continuum. This nature is totally obscured or tainted in the ground phase (གཞི་དུས་མ་དག་པ་), partially tainted or obscured at the path phase (ལམ་དུས་ཕྱོགས་གཅིག་དག་པ་) and fully purified at the fruition phase (འབྲས་དུས་ཐམས་ཅད་དག་པ་). He writes that the basic element of buddha nature is the ground to be purified, the stains to be removed are nine-fold perhaps referring to the nine analogies used to illustrate how buddha-nature is obscured by the afflictive emotions, the antidote which purifies is the discernment of buddha-nature and the final result the perfection of purity, self and bliss. A resemblance of the final result is already perceived on the Path of Seeing, and such experience of buddha nature is said to be the seeing of Mahāmudrā.
He states that Mahāmudrā in this context is not the emptiness of non-implicative negation as argued in the scholastic writings of Nāgārjuna but what is taught in the writings of Maitreya, or the definitive ultimate reality taught in the Third Turning after having taught self-emptiness in the Middle Turning. He then explains how such nature is actualized through meditation by removing the dualistic conceptual thoughts and emotions which are included in the eight types of consciousness that characterize the three realms of cycle of existence. In the final section, he refutes several misunderstanding and criticism concerning Mahāmudrā and argues that this Mahāmudrā cannot be realized merely through conceptual reasoning but through practice of non-mentation with the help of instructions which points out the nature of the mind and devotion to guru. Intellectual study and single-pointed concentration are not prerequisites for the experience of Mahāmudrā. He adds that positing the emptiness, which is a non-implicative negation after a reductionist analysis, as Mahāmudrā is not in accordance with the Ultimate Continuum or the purport of the hymns by Saraha.
Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag gi bshad sbyar rgyal ba'i gan mdzod
In his exposition of the Mahāmudrā view in the Phyag chen rgyal ba’i gan mdzod, Padma dkar po adopts Yang dgon pa’s famous distinction between the mahāmudrā in the modes of abiding (gnas lugs phyag chen) and error ( ’khrul lugs phyag chen) as an interpretive schema both for [1] clarifying the doctrine of the unity or nonduality of the two truths—which he takes as a central doctrine of the Madhyamaka, Mantrayāna and ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud traditions—and [2] criticizing the rival Jo nang account of reality which posits the conventional and ultimate as two great kingdoms that have nothing in common. (Source: Mahamudra and the Middle Way - Vol. 2, 157.)
Chos dbyings du ma ro gcig bde gshegs snying po'i yon tan can gyi mdo sde
Dölpopa's responds to arguments against the theory that buddha-nature has the qualities of the buddha latent in it. He uses scriptural citations and reasonings to argue that the unconditioned buddha-nature must possess the qualities of the Buddha.
Chos kyi 'khor lo legs par gtan la phab pa theg pa chen po'i tshul 'ong ges zhus pa
These are teachings delivered by Drikung Kagyu master Jikten Sumgön that includes an account of the twelve great events of the buddha and the detailed explanation of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma and written down by his student Onge. The text also contains a praise of the Ultimate Continuum as containing the gist of the third wheel.
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos
The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse, which is essentially a synopsis of the Uttaratantra. According to Schaeffer, "This verse text (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa, or De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa) blends scriptural quotations from both sūtra and tantra with Rang byung's own words, creating an evocative picture of the relation between the primordially pure enlightened state- symbolized by the Enlightened Heart (snying po)- human existence, and Buddhahood. While Rang byung has relied heavily on the Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra, (known in Tibet as the Uttaratantra, or Rgyud bla ma), the syncretism of various strands of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna apparent in the text is particular to Tibet. Tathāgatagarbha, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Mahāmudrā, and Annuttarayogatantra all coalesce in this work, which is a testament to the hundreds of years of appropriation and synthesis of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought that preceded it. - Kurtis Schaeffer, from the introduction to The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood.
Dpon byang ba'i phyag tu phul ba'i chos kyi shan 'byed
A lengthy polemical work by Dölpopa that addresses various disputed philosophical positions. Pön Jangpa sent Dolpopa some polemical writings with a measure of gold as gift asking him to send him response. In response, Dölpopa wrote this treatise explaining how self-emptiness as many Tibetan scholars understood is not the ultimate truth but buddha-nature endowed with buddha qualities is.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan
A polemical work defending the other-emptiness view of the Jonang tradition that addresses the criticism of this position by other Tibetan schools. This discursive text discusses the provisional or ultimate nature of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, the position of Indian masters and philosophical schools, the intent of the Mahāyāna sūtras and the rebuts the criticism of other-emptiness by proponents of the self-emptiness theory in Tibet.
Gzhan stong snying po
A fairly brief work by Tāranātha on the basic tenets of the four systems of Buddhist philosophy, namely the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntrika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka. His exposition culminates with a presentation of the Great Madhyamaka, the pinnacle of the four, which is synonymous with other-emptiness as represented by the Jonang tradition.
Mahābherīsūtra
One of the so-called tathāgatagarbha sūtras that features teachings on buddha-nature. In this text buddha-nature is possessed by all sentient beings and is described as luminous and pure. It is also attributed characteristics, such as being permanent, eternal, everlasting, peaceful, and a self, that echo the four perfect qualities (guṇapāramitās) often ascribed to the dharmakāya when it is treated as a synonym for buddha-nature. It also connects tathāgatagarbha to the notion of a single vehicle and asserts the definitive nature of the buddha-nature teachings in general and within this sūtra in particular.
Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa
One of only two extant Sanskrit texts that comment on the Uttaratantra, this highly original work by Sajjana presents a contemplative approach to Maitreya's treatise from an author that was the veritable source for the Tibetan exegetical traditions spawned by his students Ngok Loden Sherab and Tsen Khawoche.
Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā
In the Tibetan tradition, which parses out the root verses and refers to that as the treatise (bstan bcos, śāstra), this title references the full text complete with the root verses and the accompanying prose commentary (rnam par bshad pa, vyākhyā). While the earlier Chinese tradition attributes authorship of both aspects of the text to the as of yet still mysterious figure of Sāramati, the Tibetan tradition attributes the treatise to the Bodhisattva Maitreya and this commentary to the illustrious founder of the Yogācāra school, Asaṅga. However, unlike the Chinese tradition which delineates different aspects of the text into the basic verses, the commentarial verses, and the prose commentary, the Tibetan tradition actually preserves two separate versions of the text we know as the Ratnagotravibhāga.
The first, made up entirely of the so-called root verses, corresponds to the Sanskrit title Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, though it is usually referenced in this tradition by the Tibetan equivalent of the latter subtitle, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos, which is commonly rendered into English as the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle and is abbreviated as RGV. However, the full title, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos dkon mchog gi rigs rnam par dbye ba, does appear at the end of each chapter of the canonical Tibetan recensions. Nevertheless, this version is likely a Tibetan redaction, in that thus far there is no evidence of a Sanskrit version written entirely in verse that excludes the commentarial sections that explain them.
The second, which combines the verses with their accompanying prose commentary, corresponds to the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā as it has become known in academic circles where it is referenced with the abbreviation RGVV. However, in Tibetan the subtitle is merely appended with the equivalent of vyākhyā, i.e. Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa, and thus a translation of the Tibetan title of the complete text would be something akin to the Explanatory Commentary on the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle. However, the extant Sanskrit recension of the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra directly corresponds to the Tibetan version known as the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, in that it contains both the root verses and the prose commentary. Though, again, lacking a Sanskrit work entitled the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, we can surmise that its corresponding Tibetan title was likely manufactured in order to delineate it from the streamlined verse redaction, while the Sanskrit title *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā was in turn a product of modern scholars. On the surface it would seem that this title is a combination of the Chinese title back translated into Sanskrit as the Ratnagotraśāstra and the one found in the Tibetan editions, which state the Sanskrit title as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhya. Nevertheless, in terms of content, the Sanskrit RGV corresponds to the Tibetan RGVV, in that the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra is the same text as Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa.
Also, see the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra and for a recent essay on the text: On the Ratnagotravibhāga by Alexander Gardner.Śrīmālādevīsūtra
One of the more prominent sūtra sources for the Ratnagotravibhāga, this text tells of the story of Śrīmālādevī taking up the Buddhist path at the behest of her royal parents based on a prophecy of the Buddha. It includes mention of important concepts related to the teachings on buddha-nature, such as the single vehicle and the four perfections, or transcendent characteristics, of the dharmakāya. It also mentions the notion that buddha-nature, which is equated with mind's luminous nature, is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of its limitless inseparable qualities. In his commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga, Asaṅga quotes this sūtra more than any other source text. In particular, it is considered a source for the fifth of the seven vajra topics, enlightenment.
Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa
The first Tibetan commentary written on the Uttaratantra by the translator of the only extant Tibetan translation of the treatise. Furthermore, since the author is also the namesake of the Ngok tradition (rngog lugs) of exegesis of the Uttaratantra, known for its analytic take on the work, this text was highly influential in the conception of a uniquely Tibetan approach to the Uttaratantra and the notion of buddha-nature.
Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i gdams pa
This work details instructions on the Ratnagotravibhāga that Maitrīpa reportedly received directly from Maitreya in a dream, which he then later retrieved, in actuality, discovering the text concealed within in a stūpa. Mönlam Tsultrim, the attributed Tibetan author of this work that lived centuries later, thus claims that he copied and edited this work from the original manuscript that was passed down in a lineage coming from Maitrīpa, himself.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa nges don gsal bar byed pa'i 'od zer
This work presents a late (14th century) Kadampa view on the Ratnagotravibhāga and the associated buddha-nature teachings by an influential representative of this tradition, often referred to as "the second Asaṅga" (thogs med gnyis pa).
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel ba gsal ba nyi ma'i snying po
Dumowa Tashi Özer's commentary on the Uttaratantra that is based on the Third Karmapa’s topical outline or summary (bsdus don).
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs bshad nyi ma'i 'od zer
Dölpopa's commentary on the Uttaratantra, which, although it doesn't actually use the term "other-emptiness", is an important precursor and source to the formulation of his unique Zhentong view found in his seminal work Mountain Dharma: An Ocean of Definitive Meaning (ri chos nges don rgya mtsho).
Emptiness or Luminosity[edit]
The binary of luminosity and emptiness represents a fundamental Buddhist debate over using cataphatic or apophatic language—that is, whether one can use positive language to describe reality or whether one must always use the language of negation. Emptiness theory posits that there is ultimately no permanent or independent nature to any phenomena, be it physical or mental. Yet scriptures also teach that the mind itself is naturally luminous, such as in the Perfection of Wisdom, where one reads that "in its essential original nature, thought is transparently luminous." In luminosity theory, the stains of saṃsāra do not defile the mind but only cloud its true nature, and enlightenment is simply a revealing of what is already there. Luminosity is a key factor in tantra, where a direct experience of the mind's luminosity is a goal. In rejecting such affirmative descriptions of mind, teachers such as Haribhadra and Sakya Paṇḍita have reconciled this binary by relegating luminosity to provisional status—language which is used to teach and which is not completely accurate. But others such as Vasubandhu and Nāropa maintained that luminosity is the actual characteristic of mind and is therefore not to be regarded as empty.
What Is Buddha-Nature?[edit]
Since the notion of tathāgatagarbha wasn't drawn from a single scriptural source nor predicated on the views of a single philosophical school or movement, there is no universally accepted definition of what buddha-nature actually is or is not. Rather, there developed many different approaches to this topic based on how buddha-nature was interpreted from a variety of philosophical perspectives. Below are some of the major positions taken on buddha-nature and the individuals who supported them.
Emptiness That Is a Nonimplicative Negation (without enlightened qualities)
- This position refers to the sheer emptiness that most classical Mādhyamikas subscribe to. The emptiness that is a nonimplicative negation also corresponds to what became known as the rangtong view, in that its referent is empty of an inherent or intrinsic nature. Proponents of this view typically hold the second turning of the Dharma wheel to be the most definitive.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Bde gshegs snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
Butön's study on the theory of the tathāgatagarbha written in 1359. In this text he argues that the teachings on buddha-nature are of an expedient or provisional meaning, which is a position that is typical of the Sakya view as set forth by Sakya Paṇḍita and others. He backs up this position with citations from the Ghanavyūhasūtra, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra, the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra, and the Ratnagotravibhāga.
Emptiness That Is an Implicative Negation (with enlightened qualities)
- This position refers to an emptiness that when denying the existence of one thing implies the presence of another. This corresponds to what became known as the zhentong view, in which buddha-nature is empty of adventitious defilements but not empty of enlightened qualities. Proponents of this view typically hold the third turning of the Dharma wheel to be the most definitive.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Gzhan stong chen mo
Along with Dol po pa's Ri chos Nge don Rgya mtsho and Tāranātha’s Dbu ma Theg mchog Rab dbyed Brgyad, the Gzhan stong Chen mo comprises the third major textbook studied within the Gzhan stong Madhyamaka curriculum at major Jonang monastic universities, including 'Dzam thang Dgon pa, Bswe Dgon pa and Lcam mda' Dgon pa. For pedagogical reasons, and because of the structure of Mkhan po Blo grags' work, monks generally begin by studying sūtra gzhan stong separately from tantric gzhan stong in preparation for examining Dol po pa's synthetic masterpiece interweaving sūtra and tantra. In a coherent structure identical to the Ri chos, the Gzhan stong Chen mo presents gzhan stong philosophical thinking systematically in accord with the outline of ground (gzhi), path (lam) and fruition ('bras bu), treating sūtra gzhan stong within the main body of the text and tantric gzhan stong as an appendix.
Michael Sheehy, 2007.
Phyi nang grub mtha'i rnam bzhag gi bsdus don blo gsal yid kyi rgyan bzang
A condensed presentation of the tenets of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist philosophical systems by a modern Jonang scholar. This treatise presents the main advocates, the main literary sources, the view or ground reality, the practice on the path and resultant states. The highest Buddhist tenet system, the Mādhyamika school, is divided into the rangtong or the self-emptiness sub-school and the zhentong or the other-emptiness sub-school.
Zab mo gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyud 'debs
Tāranātha's lineage supplication to the other-emptiness Madhyamaka tradition that was preserved by the Jonang school. Tāranātha traces the origin of the other-emptiness to the Buddha, who passed it down through Maitreya, Asaṅga, Vasubandhu to Maitripa or from Vasubandhu through Sthiramati, Guṇamāti, et al. to Maitrīpa, or from Buddha through Vajrapaṇi, Rahulabhadra, Nāgārjuna, Śabari, Maitrīpa, from Maitrīpa through Anandakīrti, Ratnakaraśānti, Sajjṇāna, Anandavajra, then in Tibet through Tsen Khawoche, et al. until Tāranātha.
Bka' bsdu bzhi pa'i don bstan rtsis chen po
The seminal work of Dölpopa often simply referred to as the Fourth Council. Structured around the notion of four eons drawn from the Kālacakra Tantra, it is one of the primary sources for Dölpopa's presentation of his other-emptiness (zhentong) philosophy.
Chos kyi dbyings su bstod pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa chos kyi dbyings rnam par nges pa
In this commentary on Nāgārjuna's Dharmadhātustava, the renowned Sakya scholar Śākya Chokden reasons that he wrote this commentary because many scholars misunderstand dharmadhātu or sphere of reality to be mere emptiness that is non-implicative negative and do not understand that it has a luminous aspect of awareness.
'phags ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i dka' 'grel 'gran zla med pa'i rgyal po tshig le'ur byas pa
One of the Tāranātha's three commentaries on the Heart Sūtra, he presents the ultimate purport of the sūtras as being the ultimate other-emptiness. He comments on the sūtra and its transmission in verses, a very rare style for a work considered to be a commentary. Like his short word for word commentary and the detailed exegesis, this verse commentary explains the Heart Sūtra in accordance with the theories of other-emptiness. Tāranātha also claims he is unique in showing how the Heart Sūtra also captures the hidden themes of the eight topics discussed in some other longer versions of Perfection of Wisdom texts. The commentary was written when Tāranātha was 29 by Tibetan reckoning.
Shes bya kun la khyab pa'i mdzod
In Tibetan religious literature, its ten books stand out as a unique masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental work, Jamgön Kongtrul presents an encyclopedic account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. (source: Tsadra Foundation's Treasury of Knowledge Series)
Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag gi bshad sbyar rgyal ba'i gan mdzod
In his exposition of the Mahāmudrā view in the Phyag chen rgyal ba’i gan mdzod, Padma dkar po adopts Yang dgon pa’s famous distinction between the mahāmudrā in the modes of abiding (gnas lugs phyag chen) and error ( ’khrul lugs phyag chen) as an interpretive schema both for [1] clarifying the doctrine of the unity or nonduality of the two truths—which he takes as a central doctrine of the Madhyamaka, Mantrayāna and ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud traditions—and [2] criticizing the rival Jo nang account of reality which posits the conventional and ultimate as two great kingdoms that have nothing in common. (Source: Mahamudra and the Middle Way - Vol. 2, 157.)
Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i mdo rnam par bshad pa sngon med legs bshad
In this commentary on the Heart Sūtra, Tāranātha starts with the discussion of the different forms of Perfection of Wisdom in relation to the nature of phenomena, the path to enlightenment, the resultant state, and the doctrinal teachings which discuss the topic. He cites Dignāga to claim that the true Perfection of Wisdom is the resultant wisdom of the buddhas. However, the most important point he underscores is that the ultimate message of all three Turning of the Wheels and the Heart Sūtra is the great other-emptiness. All conventional phenomena are primordially empty of their own nature but the ultimate nature is only empty of other conventional phenomena but not empty of its own nature. This, he argues, is the ultimate truth, the reality and the intent of all buddhas.
Commenting on the four statements on form and emptiness in the Heart Sūtra, he presents what he considers to be the interpretations among the proponents of the Mind Only (སེམས་ཙམ་པ་) and Naturelessness (ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པར་སྨྲ་བ་), both of which are acceptable in certain contexts but do not capture the ultimate reality. The ultimate understanding, he reasons, must be obtained by putting the four statements in the context of the three characteristics (མཚན་ཉིད་གསུམ་). He goes on to explain how the four statements should be understood in relation to the imputed nature, the dependent nature and the consummate nature, through which one can grasp the meaning of the emptiness of that which is non-existent (མེད་པའི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་), the emptiness of that which is existent (ཡོད་པའི་སྟོང་ཉིད་), and the emptiness of true nature (རང་བཞིན་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་) taught by Maitreya.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan gyi lung sbyor
A supplement to Tāranātha's Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness (Gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyan) that focuses on the scriptural sources of the other-emptiness philosophy. The scriptural citations and reference which were barely mentioned or referred to in the Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness are quoted in full to substantiate the claims of the proponents of Other-Emptiness.
Sher snying gi tshig 'grel
Tāranātha presents an interpretation of the Heart Sūtra in accordance with his philosophical espousal of the other-emptiness in this short word-for-word commentary. At the very outset, he states in this commentary that the main referent of the term Perfection of Wisdom is buddha-nature, the non-dual wisdom which is the true nature of all phenomena. This, he argues, is not empty of its nature. The Heart Sūtra sufficiently makes it clear that the five skandhas and other conventional phenomena are empty of their nature, but not buddha-nature or the ultimate truth. ‘Form is emptiness’ indicates that form is utterly non-existent and empty. ‘Emptiness is form’ indicates that emptiness, which is the ultimate reality, is what appears as form to ordinary beings. ‘Emptiness is not other than form’ shows there is no emptiness which exists separately from form but reality qua emptiness is rather the true nature of form. ‘Form is not other than emptiness’ states there is no real form that is different from emptiness in the ultimate sense, because emptiness qua reality exists whereas form doesn’t.
Chos dbyings du ma ro gcig bde gshegs snying po'i yon tan can gyi mdo sde
Dölpopa's responds to arguments against the theory that buddha-nature has the qualities of the buddha latent in it. He uses scriptural citations and reasonings to argue that the unconditioned buddha-nature must possess the qualities of the Buddha.
Dpon byang ba'i phyag tu phul ba'i chos kyi shan 'byed
A lengthy polemical work by Dölpopa that addresses various disputed philosophical positions. Pön Jangpa sent Dolpopa some polemical writings with a measure of gold as gift asking him to send him response. In response, Dölpopa wrote this treatise explaining how self-emptiness as many Tibetan scholars understood is not the ultimate truth but buddha-nature endowed with buddha qualities is.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan
A polemical work defending the other-emptiness view of the Jonang tradition that addresses the criticism of this position by other Tibetan schools. This discursive text discusses the provisional or ultimate nature of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, the position of Indian masters and philosophical schools, the intent of the Mahāyāna sūtras and the rebuts the criticism of other-emptiness by proponents of the self-emptiness theory in Tibet.
Gzhan stong snying po
A fairly brief work by Tāranātha on the basic tenets of the four systems of Buddhist philosophy, namely the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntrika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka. His exposition culminates with a presentation of the Great Madhyamaka, the pinnacle of the four, which is synonymous with other-emptiness as represented by the Jonang tradition.
Mind's Luminous Nature
- This position refers to those that assert that buddha-nature is the luminous nature of the mind itself.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Vimalaprabhā
A crucial commentary to the Kālacakra Tantra purported to have been written by Kalkī Śrī Puṇḍarīka, the fabled Second King of Shambhala also known as Kulika Puṇḍarīka, though in the Tibetan tradition the work is sometimes attributed to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara whom Puṇḍarīka was considered to be an emanation of. In the Tibetan tradition it is counted among the Three Cycles of Bodhisattva Commentaries (Sems 'grel skor gsum), which are a trilogy of canonical commentaries attributed to the transcendent Bodhisattvas Vajrapaṇi, Vajragarbha, and Avalokiteśvara on the Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, and Kālacakra Tantras, respectively.
Phyag rgya chen po gsal bar byed pa'i bstan bcos tshangs pa'i 'khor los gzhan blo'i dregs pa nyams byed
In this book, Śākya Chokden seeks to explain the luminous nature of the mind which he says is also popularly given the name Mahāmudrā in Tibet (སེམས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་འོད་གསལ་ལ།། ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོའི་མཚན་གསོལ་ནས། །གངས་ཅན་ལྗོངས་སུ་ཆེར་གྲགས་པ། །དེ་ཉིད་མདོ་ཙམ་གསལ་བར་བྱ།།). In elucidating the Mahāmudrā advocated by Gampopa, he presents a detailed explanation of it by pointing out that the Mahāmudrā in this context is the luminous nature of the mind, which is common to all Mahāyāna traditions, and the one which is explicitly taught in the works of Maitreya, particularly in the Ultimate Continuum. This nature is totally obscured or tainted in the ground phase (གཞི་དུས་མ་དག་པ་), partially tainted or obscured at the path phase (ལམ་དུས་ཕྱོགས་གཅིག་དག་པ་) and fully purified at the fruition phase (འབྲས་དུས་ཐམས་ཅད་དག་པ་). He writes that the basic element of buddha nature is the ground to be purified, the stains to be removed are nine-fold perhaps referring to the nine analogies used to illustrate how buddha-nature is obscured by the afflictive emotions, the antidote which purifies is the discernment of buddha-nature and the final result the perfection of purity, self and bliss. A resemblance of the final result is already perceived on the Path of Seeing, and such experience of buddha nature is said to be the seeing of Mahāmudrā.
He states that Mahāmudrā in this context is not the emptiness of non-implicative negation as argued in the scholastic writings of Nāgārjuna but what is taught in the writings of Maitreya, or the definitive ultimate reality taught in the Third Turning after having taught self-emptiness in the Middle Turning. He then explains how such nature is actualized through meditation by removing the dualistic conceptual thoughts and emotions which are included in the eight types of consciousness that characterize the three realms of cycle of existence. In the final section, he refutes several misunderstanding and criticism concerning Mahāmudrā and argues that this Mahāmudrā cannot be realized merely through conceptual reasoning but through practice of non-mentation with the help of instructions which points out the nature of the mind and devotion to guru. Intellectual study and single-pointed concentration are not prerequisites for the experience of Mahāmudrā. He adds that positing the emptiness, which is a non-implicative negation after a reductionist analysis, as Mahāmudrā is not in accordance with the Ultimate Continuum or the purport of the hymns by Saraha.
Dbu ma'i byung tshul rnam par bshad pa'i gtam yid bzhin lhun po zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
A history of the Madhyamaka philosophy in India and Tibet written by Śākya Chokden between 1484-1490 in Lhasa with Kongtön Chökyi Gyaltsen as scribe. In this text, he defines what is a Middle Way and presents the transmission of different Middle Way thoughts.
Theg pa chen po'i bstan bcos rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa
A commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga by the famed scholar Bodong Paṇchen Chokle Namgyal. He considers this text a connector between sūtra and mantra traditions and argues that buddha-nature does not possess the qualities of the Buddha but is luminous and pure by nature.
Sde snod bcud bsdus man ngag gi snying po
One of a series of short texts by the Kadam scholar Kyotön Mönlam Tsultrim, this was composed in Narthang at the behest of Sonam Dar, a descendent of Kyide Nyima Gön and at the request of Geshe Gönden Ö and Yönten Ö. The text contains concise lamrim instructions starting with (1) instruction on the contemplation on precious humanhood, impermanence and the law of cause and effect, and the practice of taking refuge for the inferior individuals, (2) contemplation of defects of cycle of existence, renunciation and non-self for those following the path of the hearers and solitary realisers for the middling individuals, and (3) finally the cultivation of bodhicitta and meditation on non-conceptuality and luminous nature of the mind which is free from all elaborations for superior individuals. This brief teaching underscores the importance of eradicating conceptual thoughts and abiding in the non-conceptual luminous nature of the mind.
Lung rigs gnyis kyis phyag rgya chen po'i bzhed tshul la 'khrul pa sel ba'i bstan bcos zung 'jug gru chen
One of the three short texts on Mahāmudrā by Śākya Choden, this was written in response to a list of questions raised by a certain scholar named Karma Wangchuk Pel with regard to Sakya Paṇḍita’s critique of Neo-Mahāmudrā and Single White Remedy in his Distinguishing the Three Vows.
He begins with a cogent presentation of Mahāmudrā covering its sources, the objective Mahāmudrā, the subjective Mahāmudrā, its synonyms, the actual Mahāmudra experience among sublime beings, the analogous Mahāmudrā understanding among ordinary practitioners, and the Mahāmudrā concept according to the philosophical and tantric schools. Following this, he delves into how some later followers of Sakya and Kagyu tradition do not fathom the understanding of their respective teachings. He als points out how the followers of Kadampa tradition have missed the important original teachings of Atīśa and founding fathers.
In summary, Śākya Chokden underscores the point that there are two ways in which misconceptions are overcome: through an extrovert rational analysis and an introvert yogic contemplation. The Mahāmudrā tradition of Gampopa belongs to the latter category while the former includes the postulations of self-emptiness and other-emptiness.Kālacakratantra
The Kālacakratantra is an early eleventh-century esoteric treatise belonging to the class of unexcelled yoga-tantras (anuttara-yoga-tantra). To the best of our knowledge, it was the last anuttara-yoga-tantra to appear in India.
According to the Kālacakra tradition, the extant version of the Kālacakratantra is an abridged version of the larger original tantra, called the Paramādibuddha, that was taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni to Sucandra, the king of Śambhala and an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, in the Dhānyakaṭaka stūpa, a notable center of Mahāyāna in the vicinity of the present-day village of Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. Upon receiving instruction on the Paramādibuddhatantra and returning to Śambhala, King Sucandra wrote it down and propagated it throughout his kingdom. His six successors continued to maintain the inherited tradition, and the eighth king of Śambhala, Mañjuśrī Yaśas, composed the abridged version of the Parāmadibuddhatantra, which is handed down to us as the Sovereign Abridged Kālacakratantra (Laghukālacakratantrarāja). It is traditionally taught that it is composed of 1,030 verses written in the sradgharā meter. However, various Sanskrit manuscripts and editions of the Laghukālacakratantra contain a somewhat larger number of verses, ranging from 1,037 to 1,047 verses. The term an “abridged tantra” (laghu-tantra) has a specific meaning in Indian Buddhist tantric tradition. Its traditional interpretation is given in Naḍapādas (Nāropā) Sekoddeśaṭīkā, which states that in every yoga, yoginī, and other types of tantras, the concise, general explanations (uddeśa) and specific explanations (nirdeśa) make up a tantric discourse (tantra-saṃgīti), and that discourse, which is an exposition (uddeśana) there, is an entire abridged tantra.
The tradition tells us that Mañjuśrī Yaśas's successor Puṇḍarīka, who was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara, composed a large commentary on the Kālacakratantra, called the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā), which became the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus. The place of the Vimalaprabhā in the Kālacakra literary corpus is of great importance, for in many instances, without the Vimalaprabhā, it would be practically impossible to understand not only the broader implications of the Kālacakratantra' cryptic verses and often grammatically corrupt sentences but their basic meanings. It has been said that the Kālacakratantra is explicit with regard to the tantric teachings that are often only implied in the other anuttara-yoga-tantras, but this explicitness is actually far more characteristic of the Vimalaprabhā than of the Kālacakratantra itself. (Source: Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: pp. 2-3.)
According to the Kālacakra tradition, the extant version of the Kālacakratantra is an abridged version of the larger original tantra, called the Paramādibuddha, that was taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni to Sucandra, the king of Śambhala and an emanation of Vajrapāṇi, in the Dhānyakaṭaka stūpa, a notable center of Mahāyāna in the vicinity of the present-day village of Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. Upon receiving instruction on the Paramādibuddhatantra and returning to Śambhala, King Sucandra wrote it down and propagated it throughout his kingdom. His six successors continued to maintain the inherited tradition, and the eighth king of Śambhala, Mañjuśrī Yaśas, composed the abridged version of the Parāmadibuddhatantra, which is handed down to us as the Sovereign Abridged Kālacakratantra (Laghukālacakratantrarāja). It is traditionally taught that it is composed of 1,030 verses written in the sradgharā meter. However, various Sanskrit manuscripts and editions of the Laghukālacakratantra contain a somewhat larger number of verses, ranging from 1,037 to 1,047 verses. The term an “abridged tantra” (laghu-tantra) has a specific meaning in Indian Buddhist tantric tradition. Its traditional interpretation is given in Naḍapādas (Nāropā) Sekoddeśaṭīkā, which states that in every yoga, yoginī, and other types of tantras, the concise, general explanations (uddeśa) and specific explanations (nirdeśa) make up a tantric discourse (tantra-saṃgīti), and that discourse, which is an exposition (uddeśana) there, is an entire abridged tantra.
The tradition tells us that Mañjuśrī Yaśas's successor Puṇḍarīka, who was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara, composed a large commentary on the Kālacakratantra, called the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā), which became the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus. The place of the Vimalaprabhā in the Kālacakra literary corpus is of great importance, for in many instances, without the Vimalaprabhā, it would be practically impossible to understand not only the broader implications of the Kālacakratantra' cryptic verses and often grammatically corrupt sentences but their basic meanings. It has been said that the Kālacakratantra is explicit with regard to the tantric teachings that are often only implied in the other anuttara-yoga-tantras, but this explicitness is actually far more characteristic of the Vimalaprabhā than of the Kālacakratantra itself. (Source: Wallace, Vesna A. The Inner Kālacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: pp. 2-3.)
The Summary of the Ultimate Continuum: Clarifying the Meaning of Buddha-Nature
In this short work, the famous Sakya scholar Rendawa presents his interpretation of and positions on the main topics covered by the Ultimate Continuum. While summarising the text, he points out how buddha-nature is to be understood as the luminous nature of the mind, and not as an absolute nature separate from the luminous aspect of the mind. He argues that buddha-nature, which is present in all sentient beings, is endowed with the universal quality of luminosity of the mind but not with the specific enlightened qualities of the Buddha. Thus, employing the common hermeneutic tools of reference,་purpose and direct contradiction, he considered the teachings on buddha-nature to be provisional teachings, which are not to be taken literally.
Sekoddeśa
This is the first tantric text in the Kangyur canon related to the Kālacakra cycle. It is a summary of the third chapter of the longer Kālacakra tantra dealing with the ritual of initiation or empowerment. The Kālacakra teachings presents a unique set of seven initiations to conduct the ordinary/childlike initiate (བྱིས་པ་འཇུག་པའི་དབང་བདུན་) and then the four main initiations of the vase, secret, wisdom and word, which are also divided into two sets of the conventional and superior types. The Kālacakra cycle is considered to be very explicit in revealing the luminous nature of the mind through these initiatory rituals and tantric methods employing bodily energy and fluids.
Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā
In Sanskrit, the “Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras”; one of the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga) said to have been presented to Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tuṣita heaven. Written in verse, the text offers a systematic presentation of the practices of the bodhisattva from the standpoint of the Yogācāra school and is one of the most important of the Indian Mahāyāna śāstras. Its twenty-one chapters deal with (1) the proof that the Mahāyāna sūtras are the word of the Buddha; (2) taking refuge in the three jewels (ratnatraya); (3) the lineage (gotra) of enlightenment necessary to undertake the bodhisattva path; (4) the generation of the aspiration to enlightenment (bodhicittotpāda); (5) the practice of the bodhisattva; (6) the nature of reality, described from the Yogācāra perspective; (7) the attainment of power by the bodhisattva; (8) the methods of bringing oneself and others to maturation; (9) enlightenment and the three bodies of a buddha (trikāya); (10) faith in the Mahāyāna; (11) seeking complete knowledge of the dharma; (12) teaching the dharma; (13) practicing in accordance with the dharma; (14) the precepts and instructions received by the bodhisattva; (15) the skillful methods of the bodhisattva; (16) the six perfections (pāramitā) and the four means of conversion (saṃgrahavastu), through which bodhisattvas attract and retain disciples; (17) the worship of the Buddha; (18) the constituents of enlightenment (bodhipākṣikadharma); (19) the qualities of the bodhisattva; and (20-21) the consummation of the bodhisattva path and the attainment of buddhahood. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 514)
Phyag rgya chen po'i shan 'byed ces bya ba'i bstan bcos
The second work in Śākya Chokden's trilogy of short writings on Mahāmudra, he points out in this text a list of the five types of misinterpretation of the actual point of Mahāmudrā practice:
1. The emptiness posited through Mādhyamika reasoning. 2. The union of emptiness and bliss which fills the network of channels after tantric practice of consecration. 3. Experience of bare consciousness free from all mentation. 4. Non-apprehension of the mind either inside or outside, having colour and shape, etc. 5. The ground consciousness which is the cause of all experience.
Śākya Choden states that none of these capture the profound, precise, effective Mahāmudrā technique of Gampopa, which is compared to the Single White Remedy, and explains how they are not the same as Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā. Śākya Chokden also distinguishes the Chinese Chan practice from Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā and goes on to explain their differences. He elaborates on the practice of Mahāmudrā through the four points of single-pointedness (རྩེ་གཅིག་), non-elaboration (སྤྲོས་བྲལ་), one taste (རོ་གཅིག་), and non-meditation (སྒོམ་མེད་).Chos kyi 'khor lo legs par gtan la phab pa theg pa chen po'i tshul 'ong ges zhus pa
These are teachings delivered by Drikung Kagyu master Jikten Sumgön that includes an account of the twelve great events of the buddha and the detailed explanation of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma and written down by his student Onge. The text also contains a praise of the Ultimate Continuum as containing the gist of the third wheel.
Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa
One of only two extant Sanskrit texts that comment on the Uttaratantra, this highly original work by Sajjana presents a contemplative approach to Maitreya's treatise from an author that was the veritable source for the Tibetan exegetical traditions spawned by his students Ngok Loden Sherab and Tsen Khawoche.
Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā
In the Tibetan tradition, which parses out the root verses and refers to that as the treatise (bstan bcos, śāstra), this title references the full text complete with the root verses and the accompanying prose commentary (rnam par bshad pa, vyākhyā). While the earlier Chinese tradition attributes authorship of both aspects of the text to the as of yet still mysterious figure of Sāramati, the Tibetan tradition attributes the treatise to the Bodhisattva Maitreya and this commentary to the illustrious founder of the Yogācāra school, Asaṅga. However, unlike the Chinese tradition which delineates different aspects of the text into the basic verses, the commentarial verses, and the prose commentary, the Tibetan tradition actually preserves two separate versions of the text we know as the Ratnagotravibhāga.
The first, made up entirely of the so-called root verses, corresponds to the Sanskrit title Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, though it is usually referenced in this tradition by the Tibetan equivalent of the latter subtitle, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos, which is commonly rendered into English as the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle and is abbreviated as RGV. However, the full title, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos dkon mchog gi rigs rnam par dbye ba, does appear at the end of each chapter of the canonical Tibetan recensions. Nevertheless, this version is likely a Tibetan redaction, in that thus far there is no evidence of a Sanskrit version written entirely in verse that excludes the commentarial sections that explain them.
The second, which combines the verses with their accompanying prose commentary, corresponds to the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā as it has become known in academic circles where it is referenced with the abbreviation RGVV. However, in Tibetan the subtitle is merely appended with the equivalent of vyākhyā, i.e. Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa, and thus a translation of the Tibetan title of the complete text would be something akin to the Explanatory Commentary on the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle. However, the extant Sanskrit recension of the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra directly corresponds to the Tibetan version known as the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, in that it contains both the root verses and the prose commentary. Though, again, lacking a Sanskrit work entitled the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, we can surmise that its corresponding Tibetan title was likely manufactured in order to delineate it from the streamlined verse redaction, while the Sanskrit title *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā was in turn a product of modern scholars. On the surface it would seem that this title is a combination of the Chinese title back translated into Sanskrit as the Ratnagotraśāstra and the one found in the Tibetan editions, which state the Sanskrit title as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhya. Nevertheless, in terms of content, the Sanskrit RGV corresponds to the Tibetan RGVV, in that the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra is the same text as Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa.
Also, see the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra and for a recent essay on the text: On the Ratnagotravibhāga by Alexander Gardner.Rgyud bla ma'i sgom rim mi pham dgongs don
This short text by Rongtön Sheja Kunrig contains instructions on how to put the topics contained in the Ultimate Continuum into actual practice. It is among the many practical instructions he has written pertaining to the classical texts which are widely studied in Tibetan scholarly centres. In the course of providing practical instructions, Rongtön makes clear his philosophical understanding of buddha-nature and his interpretation of the teachings on buddha-nature.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel ba gsal ba nyi ma'i snying po
Dumowa Tashi Özer's commentary on the Uttaratantra that is based on the Third Karmapa’s topical outline or summary (bsdus don).
Unity of Emptiness and Luminosity
- This position refers to those who assert that realization derives from the reconciliation of the ultimate and relative truths as the unity of appearance and emptiness. Proponents of this view typically hold the second turning and third turning of the Dharma wheel to be equally definitive.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i tshig don rnam par bshad pa rin chen sgron me
This is a commentary on Ratnagotravibhāga by the 69th Je Khenpo of Bhutan, Gendun Rinchen. The commentary was composed in 1983 at the request of his students when he was giving lectures on Ratnagotravibhāga in the Maitreya Temple at Phajoding, Bhutan. It is most likely the first commentary by a Bhutanese scholar. The author claims to have based his commentary on the annotated commentary of Khenpo Zhenga while also including the best of other commentaries by Tibetan masters.
Springs yig bdud rtsi'i thig le
Instruction by Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab written as a letter of advice on Buddhist practice framed as a formal correspondence to one Gatön Sherab Drak and other monks. Ngok Lotsāwa covers many topics in his advice from thinking of death and impermanence, cultivating enthusiasm, compassion, bodhicitta, etc., following the discipline and good teacher to cultivating the crop of Buddha's qualities having moistened the seed of buddha-nature by the rain of learning coming from the cloud of one's master. He advises monks to follow the words of Nāgārjuna and understand the notion of emptiness beyond existence and non-existence.
Deb ther sngon po
The famous historical work by Gö Lotsawa Zhönu Pal (1392-1481), likely referenced by more scholars than any other single work. It was translated into English by G. Roerich with the help of Gendün Chöpel.
Yid bzhin mdzod kyi 'grel pa pad+ma dkar po
The root text of the Treasury of Wishfulling Jewel along with its auto-commentary the White Lotus make up one of main books among the Seven Treasures of Longchenpa. In chapter 1 of his Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel, he expounds the theory of buddha-nature as the primordial ground from which both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra arise. In chapter 18 he discusses the abiding nature of reality, which is the ultimate truth, and presents the experiences of saṃsāra as temporary illusions arising from adventitious misconception. Buddha-nature is understood to be the empty, luminous nature of things which abides as the ontic reality in all sentient beings and is free from all fabrications. Using the terms from the sūtras teaching buddha-nature and the Ultimate Continuum, he characterizes buddha-nature as the ultimate pure, eternal, blissful self. He considers the teachings on buddha-nature which form part of the third wheel as definitive teachings, which expound the same ground nature presented in both the sūtra and tantra literature. In summary, he writes in the Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel:
འོད་གསལ་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་སྟེ། །སྟོང་གསལ་རིག་པ་དབྱེར་མེད་ཆོས་ཉིད་དོ།། The luminous buddha-nature is indivisible reality Which is spontaneous, empty, and clear awareness.
His presentation on buddha-nature theory and associated practices in his writings became the most authoritative references which determine the interpretation of buddha-nature theory and practice in the Nyingma tradition to this day.Kun tu bzang po'i smon lam stobs po che
The Powerful Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra comes from the dGongs pa zang thal or Penetrating Intent cycle of Dzogchen teachings by Rigdzin Gödem. The prayer explains how saṃsāra and nirvāṇa emerge from the same ground of primordial reality through awareness and unawareness. The cognitive glitch of dualistic clinging and ego-grasping is explained to have led to the many afflictive emotions and the corresponding resultant states of rebirth. The prayers instructs practitioners to rest in the natural state of the mind without attachment or aversion. The prayer is very widely chanted in the Himalayan communities.
Dam pa'i chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i rnam bshad lung don gsal byed legs bshad nyi ma'i snang ba
Rikdzin Chökyi Drakpa's extensive commentary on the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa), one of the core texts of the Drikung Kagyu tradition that is reported to be the oral teachings of Jikten Gönpo that were written down and edited together by his student Sherab Jungne.
Grub mtha' mdzod
This book is among the Seven Treasures Longchenpa composed. The Seven Treasures today represent the best Tibetan literary collection for the systemisation of the Dzogchen tradition. In his Treasury of Tenet Systems, Longchenpa carries a detailed exegesis of the buddha-nature in chapter 4 on the spiritual gene required for the practice of Mahāyāna path. He cites several sūtras and many critical verses from the Ultimate Continuum, on which he comments to make clear his interpretation of buddha-nature teachings. He considers buddhahood as being identical with buddha-nature latent in all sentient beings and argues that buddhahood is a result which is revealed rather than a fruit which is cultivated and produced. Thus, all qualities of the Buddha are primordially present in the nature of all sentient beings.
Gzhan stong khas len seng ge'i nga ro
Mipam's other "lion's roar"—his Lion's Roar: Affirming Other Emptiness—shows the way he establishes an other-emptiness view that affirms the existence of the ultimate truth as not empty of its own essence.
(Source: Duckworth, Douglas. Jamgön Mipham: His Life and Teachings. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2011: p 58.)
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi nges don gsal bar byed pa'i rin po che'i gron me
An extensive commentary on the Uttaratantra written by a contemporary of Dölpopa and Butön during the height of the debate over the definitive nature of the treatise and its teaching on buddha-nature. Lodrö Tsungme presents an interpretation of buddha-nature which is different from what is given by many masters of Sangphu including Ngok Loden Sherab. As his position are quite similar to what Longchenpa espoused later, the commentary was mistakenly attributed to Longchenpa by some Nyingma followers.
Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i kar TIka chen mo
The 8th Karmapa's commentary on the famous treatise, the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa) by Drikungpa master Jikten Gönpo. The Single Intention is a compendium of critical philosophical, soteriological, and moral positions taught by Jikten Gönpo and written down by his disciple and nephew Sherab Jungne. The text contains 150 critical vajra words (རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུང་) in seven groups (ཚོམས་), along with another 47 appended points (ལྷན་ཐབས་). The root text composed by Sherab Jungne has seen several commentaries, including one by the first Drikung Chungtsang Chökyi Drakpa. This extensive commentary by the 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje is perhaps the only long commentary by Karma Kagyu master on the Single Intention.
Zab mo nang don
Rang byung's most famous, and perhaps most difficult work is yet another verse text, his Zab mo nang don, on the Anuttarayogatantras. This eleven-chapter work is thirty-two folios in length. According to a colophon provided by Kong sprul, it was written in the Water Male Dog year, 1322, at Bde chen steng. The colophons to the present redactions say only that it was written in the Dog Year. (Source: Schaeffer, K., The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood, p. 16)
Chen po gzhan stong gi lta ba dang 'brel ba'i phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam gyi rnam bshad nges don dbyings kyi rol mo
A clear explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer in colloquial Tibetan by a leading contemporary Karma Kagyu master Sangay Nyenpa Rinpoche.
Mdo rgyud rin po che'i mdzod
In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Mnyam med dwags po'i chos bzhir grags pa'i gzhung gi 'grel pa snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
A detailed commentary on Gampopa's Four Dharmas (chos bzhi) instruction for fundamental Buddhist practice. The root verses containing the four dharma of Gampopa were written by his learned student from Laya, Jangchub Ngödup exactly according to how Gampopa taught, and the extensive commentary containing a rich array of citations and arguments was authored by Jangchub Ngödup himself. The topic four dharmas of Gampopa refers to the four points of making dharma practice a genuine dharma practice, making dharma progress on the path, dispelling confusion on the path, and see confusion as pristine wisdom.
Zab lam khrid kyi man ngag 'phrad tshad rang grol
Thrangu Rinpoche met Khenpo Gangshar in the summer of 1957 when Khenpo Gangshar went to Thrangu Monastery in eastern Tibet. While there, Khenpo Gangshar gave these instructions, which are a distillation of the essential points ofthe practices of both mahamudra and dzogchen. Later they were written down, first in a very short form and then as the slightly longer text known as "Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet." What makes them so beneficial for our time is that Khenpo Gangshar presents them in a way that is easy for anyone to understand and put into practice. (Source: Vivid Awareness, Translator's Introduction, pp. IX-X)
Rdzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal gso'i 'grel pa shing rta chen po
In his Relaxation in the Nature of Mind and its auto-commentary the Great Chariot, Longchenpa deals with buddha-nature in the opening verse while paying homage to the ultimate truth, in chapter 9 while discussing the generation-stage- and completion-stage practices, and in chapter 10 on the topic of wisdom which comprehends the ground reality free from the two extremes. He presents buddha-nature as the ground maṇḍala, which forms the basis of temporary confusion, while at the same time being the uncontrived, unborn, unchanging nature of the mind to be realized on the path. Ordinary beings do not perceive this buddha-nature, but bodhisattvas on the stages see it partially and the buddhas see it fully. Longchenpa blends the sūtra presentation of buddha-nature with the esoteric exposition of the spontaneous primordial ground in the tantras. He uses terms such as essence, element, spiritual gene, innate mind, pristine wisdom, vajra mind, primordial ground, the ultimate, ground gnosis, sphere of reality, Middle Way, nondual truth, thatness, Perfection of Wisdom, etc., to refer to the same luminous nature of mind which is buddha-nature.
Causal Potential or Disposition
- This position refers to those who assert buddha-nature to be the basic or primary cause for beings to attain enlightenment. It is a capacity that sentient beings share with buddhas that demarcates their inherent potential to become enlightened should they choose to embark upon the path. In this case buddha-nature is often equated with a disposition or hereditary trait, gotra, that guarantees the possibility of enlightenment.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Resultant State of Buddhahood
- This position refers to those that assert that buddha-nature only exists in those who have already achieved enlightenment. Typically this means equating buddha-nature with the dharmakāya of a fully enlightened buddha.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra
The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra is one of the main scriptural sources for buddha-nature in China and Tibet. Set around the time of Buddha's passing or Mahāparinirvāṇa, the sūtra contains teachings on buddha-nature equating it with the dharmakāya—that is, the complete enlightenment of a buddha. It also asserts that all sentient beings possess this nature as the buddhadhātu, or buddha-element, which thus acts as a cause, seed, or potential for all beings to attain enlightenment. Furthermore, the sūtra includes some salient features related to this concept, such as the single vehicle and the notion that the dharmakāya is endowed with the four pāramitās of permanence, bliss, purity, and a self.
It may be noted that there are three different texts with similar titles in the Chinese and Tibetan canons. Of the three Tibetan texts with Mahāparinirvāṇa in their title, a short one (Derge Kanjur, No. 121) called Āryamahāparinirvāṇasūtra contains prophecies of events in the centuries after the Buddha's Mahāparinirvāṇa but has nothing on buddha-nature. Thus, this is not the Mahāparinirvāṇāsūtra which is considered as a Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. The two which deal with buddha-nature are Mahāyānasūtras and contain detailed accounts of the final teachings of the Buddha. The first sūtra, the longer one covering two volumes of Derge Kanjur (mdo sde Nya and Ta) is a translation from Chinese while the second one is a translation from Sanskrit. They appear to be two different recensions of the same original sūtra as they have similar titles and overlapping content. However, the one translated from Chinese is much longer and also contains information on the events after the Buddha entered Mahāparinirvāṇa.
Latent State of Buddhahood
- This position refers to those that assert buddha-nature is a latent form of enlightenment that is fully present in sentient beings but is obscured, and therefore inactive, at this stage of their development. In this sense, it is called buddha-nature when it has yet to manifest, and it is called enlightenment or buddhahood when it has been actualized.
People with this position
Texts with this position
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa'i bzhes dgongs dbu tshad kyi gzhung spyi dang gung bsgrigs te spyod pa'i spyi don rab gsal snang ba
An explanation of the general meaning of the scriptures on Madhyamaka (dbu ma) and pramāṇa (tshad ma) by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940).
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa chen po'i dgongs pa gzhan stong dbu ma'i tshul legs pa bshad mthar 'dzin gdung 'phrog
A treatise on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Other-Emptiness (gzhan stong) as inherited from Dölpopa by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940). Tsoknyi Gyatso explains the system of the ground, path and result in this text, followed by a synopsis of the Ultimate Continuum.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i rnam bshad don dam rnam nges bsdus pa'i snying po'i snying po
In his commentary [Gendun Özer] mentions that he composed it for his students who had requested that he write something that would differ from the "coarse explanation" (bshad nyog rtsing po) of the Uttaratantra offered by the "early commentators" (snga rabs pa) of the Kadam tradition. While Gendün Özer does not intend to succumb to a "coarse explanation" of the Indian treatise, he follows his early Kadam predecessors' exposition in terms of doctrinal position, even though his literary style is different, with numerous poetic verses of admiration. In this time period it is not surprising that he wrote the commentary primarily in consultation with Ngok's Tibetan translation (rngog 'gyur) of the Uttaratantra, but the author also used the translations made by Naktso and Patsap wherever necessary.
(Source: Tsering Wangchuk. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, 59.)
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos
The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse, which is essentially a synopsis of the Uttaratantra. According to Schaeffer, "This verse text (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa, or De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa) blends scriptural quotations from both sūtra and tantra with Rang byung's own words, creating an evocative picture of the relation between the primordially pure enlightened state- symbolized by the Enlightened Heart (snying po)- human existence, and Buddhahood. While Rang byung has relied heavily on the Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra, (known in Tibet as the Uttaratantra, or Rgyud bla ma), the syncretism of various strands of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna apparent in the text is particular to Tibet. Tathāgatagarbha, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Mahāmudrā, and Annuttarayogatantra all coalesce in this work, which is a testament to the hundreds of years of appropriation and synthesis of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought that preceded it. - Kurtis Schaeffer, from the introduction to The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood.
Different Types of Tathāgatagarbha
- This position refers to those that assert multiple versions of buddha-nature that correspond to various stages of its manifestation. In other words, rather than asserting a single buddha-nature that applies to everyone, they divide it into different types that apply to specific circumstances.
People with this position
Tathāgatagarbha Was Taught Merely to Encourage Sentient Beings to Enter the Path
- This position refers to those that assert the teachings on buddha-nature are merely provisional. From this perspective buddha-nature teachings are just a tool utilized to coerce students in the right direction rather than being an exact representation of the way things truly are. In this case, those who subscribe to this view tend to suggest that buddha-nature was taught in order to alleviate fears of emptiness or of the tremendously time-consuming effort needed to traverse the path to enlightenment.
People with this position
Potential or Already-perfected[edit]
The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, one of the earliest scriptures on tathāgatagarbha, or buddha-nature, has the Buddha state that "all beings, though they find themselves with all sorts of kleśas—the adventitious stains—have a tathāgatagarbha that is eternally unsullied and that is replete with virtues no different from my own." The sūtra gives nine similes to describe that buddha-nature. These are:
- A buddha encased in a decaying lotus blossom
- Pure honey surrounded by a swarm of bees
- A kernel of wheat not yet removed from its husk
- A piece of pure gold fallen into a pit of waste
- Treasure hidden beneath an impoverished household
- The pit of a mango that can grow into a mighty tree
- A statue of pure gold concealed in rags
- A vile woman who carries in her womb the embryo of a great man
- A statue cast in gold still encased by its earthen mold
Of these, seven describe a perfect object that is obscured by something else. The object is unaffected by its obscuration, yet it is made either unknown to people, such as the treasure under the house, or rendered difficult to obtain, as in the case of the honey surrounded by bees. The message is that buddha-nature is already present, already perfected, yet obscured by the stains of ignorance, desire, and hatred. The similes of the mango pit and the noble child in the base woman's womb have a different message, however: both indicate a potential to transform into something that is not currently present. The noble being in the womb is only an embryo, and the pit merely carries the genetic material to grow into the tree. Whether buddha-nature is properly understood as an already-present perfection or a potential to attain that perfection is debated in terms of whether buddha-nature can be defined as the natural luminosity of the mind or whether it is the same as emptiness, and therefore must not be said to exist as an independent phenomenon. If the former, then the obscurations that conceal that natural luminosity need only be removed in order to attain liberation, for one's buddhahood is already present. If the later, then that buddhahood is not present and must be cultivated. Among those who take the position that buddha-nature is a potential, there are multiple avenues of explaining how the potential is actualized, with various terms to label buddha-nature in its various stages.
Madhyamaka or Yogācāra[edit]
Buddha-nature does not easily align with either Madhyamaka or Yogācāra doctrine, though it has been appropriated by members of both schools. The theory seems to have developed outside of either community in response to their assertions on the nature of reality and human nature, such that some scholars have posited the existence of a "Tathāgatagarbha school" of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism. The assertion of the existence of a buddha-nature that possesses characteristics conflicts with Madhyamaka teachings of the fundamental absence of all independent phenomena; that is to say, buddha-nature would appear to contradict emptiness theory. At the same time, the assertion of the universality of buddha-nature conflicts with Yogācāra theories that classify beings according to their potential for liberation. Nevertheless, both Madhyamaka and Yogācāra authors have employed various interpretive strategies to make it conform to their school's orthodoxy. Both were aided by the relatively late Laṅkāvatārasūtra, which in separate sections equated buddha-nature with both emptiness and the ālayavijñāna. The Tibetan custom of including the Ratnagotravibhāga as one of the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya, a group of core Yogācāra scriptures, further lends to the common belief that buddha-nature is a teaching of that school. However, Yogācāra never really gained a foothold in Tibet other than as part of some relatively short-lived attempts to establish a synthetic Yogācāra-Madhyamaka philosophy. Hence, there was considerable debate over how to classify the five Maitreya works in Tibet, as Yogācāra, characterized by the Mind-Only view (sems tsam), was generally considered inferior to Madhyamaka. Therefore, most Tibetan proponents of buddha-nature theory found ways to align it with Madhyamaka, while its opponents tended to dismiss it as a Yogācāra doctrine.
Analytic or Meditative Tradition[edit]
The Tibetan traditions generally divide the primary modes of exegesis on the Ratnagotravibhāga into two lines of transmission known as the analytic tradition (thos bsam gyi lugs) and the meditative tradition (sgom lugs). These two traditions originated with the Tibetan disciples of the Kashmiri master Sajjana—namely Ngok Lotsāwa and Tsen Khawoche, respectively. Therefore, these two are also commonly referred to as the Ngok tradition (rngog lugs), representing the scholarly or analytic approach, and the Tsen tradition (btsan lugs), representing the more practice-oriented, meditative approach. Though it is likely the diverging motivations of these two figures that would set the respective trajectories of these traditions, with Ngok as the aspiring scholar, translator, and heir apparent to Sangpu Neutok, one of the first major Tibetan scholastic institutions, on the one hand, and the elder Tsen looking to devote the rest of his life to practice and hoping to apply the teachings of the Ratnagotravibhāga in preparation for his own death, on the other. In terms of the official stances of these traditions, they are typically associated with the above debates over emptiness or luminosity, which pits philosophical reasoning against yogic experience. Thus we see the analytic tradition branch out from Ngok's base of Sangpu Neutok, an institution that evolved in association from the Kadam to the Sakya and finally the Geluk school, all stalwarts of the classical Madhyamaka philosophy that would come to be associated with the rangtong position. Likewise, the meditative tradition would become a vehicle for the practical instructions on the treatise that would feed into and bolster the experiential approaches of the Mahāmudrā teachings, as well as the more positivistic position of zhentong Madhyamaka that would take root in the Kagyu and Jonang schools.
Analytic Tradition
People with this position
Texts with this position
Dbu ma'i byung tshul rnam par bshad pa'i gtam yid bzhin lhun po zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
A history of the Madhyamaka philosophy in India and Tibet written by Śākya Chokden between 1484-1490 in Lhasa with Kongtön Chökyi Gyaltsen as scribe. In this text, he defines what is a Middle Way and presents the transmission of different Middle Way thoughts.
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa chen po'i dgongs pa gzhan stong dbu ma'i tshul legs pa bshad mthar 'dzin gdung 'phrog
A treatise on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Other-Emptiness (gzhan stong) as inherited from Dölpopa by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940). Tsoknyi Gyatso explains the system of the ground, path and result in this text, followed by a synopsis of the Ultimate Continuum.
Gzhan stong chen mo
Along with Dol po pa's Ri chos Nge don Rgya mtsho and Tāranātha’s Dbu ma Theg mchog Rab dbyed Brgyad, the Gzhan stong Chen mo comprises the third major textbook studied within the Gzhan stong Madhyamaka curriculum at major Jonang monastic universities, including 'Dzam thang Dgon pa, Bswe Dgon pa and Lcam mda' Dgon pa. For pedagogical reasons, and because of the structure of Mkhan po Blo grags' work, monks generally begin by studying sūtra gzhan stong separately from tantric gzhan stong in preparation for examining Dol po pa's synthetic masterpiece interweaving sūtra and tantra. In a coherent structure identical to the Ri chos, the Gzhan stong Chen mo presents gzhan stong philosophical thinking systematically in accord with the outline of ground (gzhi), path (lam) and fruition ('bras bu), treating sūtra gzhan stong within the main body of the text and tantric gzhan stong as an appendix.
Michael Sheehy, 2007.
Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i kar TIka chen mo
The 8th Karmapa's commentary on the famous treatise, the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa) by Drikungpa master Jikten Gönpo. The Single Intention is a compendium of critical philosophical, soteriological, and moral positions taught by Jikten Gönpo and written down by his disciple and nephew Sherab Jungne. The text contains 150 critical vajra words (རྡོ་རྗེའི་གསུང་) in seven groups (ཚོམས་), along with another 47 appended points (ལྷན་ཐབས་). The root text composed by Sherab Jungne has seen several commentaries, including one by the first Drikung Chungtsang Chökyi Drakpa. This extensive commentary by the 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje is perhaps the only long commentary by Karma Kagyu master on the Single Intention.
Chos kyi dbyings su bstod pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa chos kyi dbyings rnam par nges pa
In this commentary on Nāgārjuna's Dharmadhātustava, the renowned Sakya scholar Śākya Chokden reasons that he wrote this commentary because many scholars misunderstand dharmadhātu or sphere of reality to be mere emptiness that is non-implicative negative and do not understand that it has a luminous aspect of awareness.
Gzhan stong khas len seng ge'i nga ro
Mipam's other "lion's roar"—his Lion's Roar: Affirming Other Emptiness—shows the way he establishes an other-emptiness view that affirms the existence of the ultimate truth as not empty of its own essence.
(Source: Duckworth, Douglas. Jamgön Mipham: His Life and Teachings. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2011: p 58.)
Phyag rgya chen po'i shan 'byed ces bya ba'i bstan bcos
The second work in Śākya Chokden's trilogy of short writings on Mahāmudra, he points out in this text a list of the five types of misinterpretation of the actual point of Mahāmudrā practice:
1. The emptiness posited through Mādhyamika reasoning. 2. The union of emptiness and bliss which fills the network of channels after tantric practice of consecration. 3. Experience of bare consciousness free from all mentation. 4. Non-apprehension of the mind either inside or outside, having colour and shape, etc. 5. The ground consciousness which is the cause of all experience.
Śākya Choden states that none of these capture the profound, precise, effective Mahāmudrā technique of Gampopa, which is compared to the Single White Remedy, and explains how they are not the same as Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā. Śākya Chokden also distinguishes the Chinese Chan practice from Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā and goes on to explain their differences. He elaborates on the practice of Mahāmudrā through the four points of single-pointedness (རྩེ་གཅིག་), non-elaboration (སྤྲོས་བྲལ་), one taste (རོ་གཅིག་), and non-meditation (སྒོམ་མེད་).Theg mchog shin tu rgyas pa'i dbu ma chen po rnam par nges pa'i rnam bshad zin bris dbu phyogs legs pa
A collection of explanatory notes on Tāranātha's Theg mchog shin tu rgyas pa'i dbu ma chen po rnam par nges pa compiled by his disciple Yeshe Gyamtso, the book presents in detail the concepts of the Middle Way, the understanding of the ground, general phenomenology, Buddhist theories of consciousness and Mahāyāna path leading to Buddhahood, which is considered to be a quality latent in all sentient beings obscured by adventitious afflictions. The notes on the last two chapters were either not written or lost. Lobsang Chogdrub Gyatso added the commentary on the last two chapters in 1894.
Dam pa'i chos dgongs pa gcig pa'i rnam bshad lung don gsal byed legs bshad nyi ma'i snang ba
Rikdzin Chökyi Drakpa's extensive commentary on the Sacred Teaching on the Single Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa), one of the core texts of the Drikung Kagyu tradition that is reported to be the oral teachings of Jikten Gönpo that were written down and edited together by his student Sherab Jungne.
Phyi nang grub mtha'i rnam bzhag gi bsdus don blo gsal yid kyi rgyan bzang
A condensed presentation of the tenets of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist philosophical systems by a modern Jonang scholar. This treatise presents the main advocates, the main literary sources, the view or ground reality, the practice on the path and resultant states. The highest Buddhist tenet system, the Mādhyamika school, is divided into the rangtong or the self-emptiness sub-school and the zhentong or the other-emptiness sub-school.
Deb ther sngon po
The famous historical work by Gö Lotsawa Zhönu Pal (1392-1481), likely referenced by more scholars than any other single work. It was translated into English by G. Roerich with the help of Gendün Chöpel.
The Summary of the Ultimate Continuum: Clarifying the Meaning of Buddha-Nature
In this short work, the famous Sakya scholar Rendawa presents his interpretation of and positions on the main topics covered by the Ultimate Continuum. While summarising the text, he points out how buddha-nature is to be understood as the luminous nature of the mind, and not as an absolute nature separate from the luminous aspect of the mind. He argues that buddha-nature, which is present in all sentient beings, is endowed with the universal quality of luminosity of the mind but not with the specific enlightened qualities of the Buddha. Thus, employing the common hermeneutic tools of reference,་purpose and direct contradiction, he considered the teachings on buddha-nature to be provisional teachings, which are not to be taken literally.
Shes bya kun la khyab pa'i mdzod
In Tibetan religious literature, its ten books stand out as a unique masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental work, Jamgön Kongtrul presents an encyclopedic account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. (source: Tsadra Foundation's Treasury of Knowledge Series)
Grub mtha' mdzod
This book is among the Seven Treasures Longchenpa composed. The Seven Treasures today represent the best Tibetan literary collection for the systemisation of the Dzogchen tradition. In his Treasury of Tenet Systems, Longchenpa carries a detailed exegesis of the buddha-nature in chapter 4 on the spiritual gene required for the practice of Mahāyāna path. He cites several sūtras and many critical verses from the Ultimate Continuum, on which he comments to make clear his interpretation of buddha-nature teachings. He considers buddhahood as being identical with buddha-nature latent in all sentient beings and argues that buddhahood is a result which is revealed rather than a fruit which is cultivated and produced. Thus, all qualities of the Buddha are primordially present in the nature of all sentient beings.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i rnam bshad don dam rnam nges bsdus pa'i snying po'i snying po
In his commentary [Gendun Özer] mentions that he composed it for his students who had requested that he write something that would differ from the "coarse explanation" (bshad nyog rtsing po) of the Uttaratantra offered by the "early commentators" (snga rabs pa) of the Kadam tradition. While Gendün Özer does not intend to succumb to a "coarse explanation" of the Indian treatise, he follows his early Kadam predecessors' exposition in terms of doctrinal position, even though his literary style is different, with numerous poetic verses of admiration. In this time period it is not surprising that he wrote the commentary primarily in consultation with Ngok's Tibetan translation (rngog 'gyur) of the Uttaratantra, but the author also used the translations made by Naktso and Patsap wherever necessary.
(Source: Tsering Wangchuk. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, 59.)
Theg pa chen po'i bstan bcos rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa
A commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga by the famed scholar Bodong Paṇchen Chokle Namgyal. He considers this text a connector between sūtra and mantra traditions and argues that buddha-nature does not possess the qualities of the Buddha but is luminous and pure by nature.
Bka' bsdu bzhi pa'i don bstan rtsis chen po
The seminal work of Dölpopa often simply referred to as the Fourth Council. Structured around the notion of four eons drawn from the Kālacakra Tantra, it is one of the primary sources for Dölpopa's presentation of his other-emptiness (zhentong) philosophy.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i tshig don rnam par bshad pa rin chen sgron me
This is a commentary on Ratnagotravibhāga by the 69th Je Khenpo of Bhutan, Gendun Rinchen. The commentary was composed in 1983 at the request of his students when he was giving lectures on Ratnagotravibhāga in the Maitreya Temple at Phajoding, Bhutan. It is most likely the first commentary by a Bhutanese scholar. The author claims to have based his commentary on the annotated commentary of Khenpo Zhenga while also including the best of other commentaries by Tibetan masters.
Bde gshegs snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
Butön's study on the theory of the tathāgatagarbha written in 1359. In this text he argues that the teachings on buddha-nature are of an expedient or provisional meaning, which is a position that is typical of the Sakya view as set forth by Sakya Paṇḍita and others. He backs up this position with citations from the Ghanavyūhasūtra, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra, the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra, and the Ratnagotravibhāga.
'phags ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i dka' 'grel 'gran zla med pa'i rgyal po tshig le'ur byas pa
One of the Tāranātha's three commentaries on the Heart Sūtra, he presents the ultimate purport of the sūtras as being the ultimate other-emptiness. He comments on the sūtra and its transmission in verses, a very rare style for a work considered to be a commentary. Like his short word for word commentary and the detailed exegesis, this verse commentary explains the Heart Sūtra in accordance with the theories of other-emptiness. Tāranātha also claims he is unique in showing how the Heart Sūtra also captures the hidden themes of the eight topics discussed in some other longer versions of Perfection of Wisdom texts. The commentary was written when Tāranātha was 29 by Tibetan reckoning.
Sher snying gi tshig 'grel
Tāranātha presents an interpretation of the Heart Sūtra in accordance with his philosophical espousal of the other-emptiness in this short word-for-word commentary. At the very outset, he states in this commentary that the main referent of the term Perfection of Wisdom is buddha-nature, the non-dual wisdom which is the true nature of all phenomena. This, he argues, is not empty of its nature. The Heart Sūtra sufficiently makes it clear that the five skandhas and other conventional phenomena are empty of their nature, but not buddha-nature or the ultimate truth. ‘Form is emptiness’ indicates that form is utterly non-existent and empty. ‘Emptiness is form’ indicates that emptiness, which is the ultimate reality, is what appears as form to ordinary beings. ‘Emptiness is not other than form’ shows there is no emptiness which exists separately from form but reality qua emptiness is rather the true nature of form. ‘Form is not other than emptiness’ states there is no real form that is different from emptiness in the ultimate sense, because emptiness qua reality exists whereas form doesn’t.
Phyag rgya chen po gsal bar byed pa'i bstan bcos tshangs pa'i 'khor los gzhan blo'i dregs pa nyams byed
In this book, Śākya Chokden seeks to explain the luminous nature of the mind which he says is also popularly given the name Mahāmudrā in Tibet (སེམས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་འོད་གསལ་ལ།། ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོའི་མཚན་གསོལ་ནས། །གངས་ཅན་ལྗོངས་སུ་ཆེར་གྲགས་པ། །དེ་ཉིད་མདོ་ཙམ་གསལ་བར་བྱ།།). In elucidating the Mahāmudrā advocated by Gampopa, he presents a detailed explanation of it by pointing out that the Mahāmudrā in this context is the luminous nature of the mind, which is common to all Mahāyāna traditions, and the one which is explicitly taught in the works of Maitreya, particularly in the Ultimate Continuum. This nature is totally obscured or tainted in the ground phase (གཞི་དུས་མ་དག་པ་), partially tainted or obscured at the path phase (ལམ་དུས་ཕྱོགས་གཅིག་དག་པ་) and fully purified at the fruition phase (འབྲས་དུས་ཐམས་ཅད་དག་པ་). He writes that the basic element of buddha nature is the ground to be purified, the stains to be removed are nine-fold perhaps referring to the nine analogies used to illustrate how buddha-nature is obscured by the afflictive emotions, the antidote which purifies is the discernment of buddha-nature and the final result the perfection of purity, self and bliss. A resemblance of the final result is already perceived on the Path of Seeing, and such experience of buddha nature is said to be the seeing of Mahāmudrā.
He states that Mahāmudrā in this context is not the emptiness of non-implicative negation as argued in the scholastic writings of Nāgārjuna but what is taught in the writings of Maitreya, or the definitive ultimate reality taught in the Third Turning after having taught self-emptiness in the Middle Turning. He then explains how such nature is actualized through meditation by removing the dualistic conceptual thoughts and emotions which are included in the eight types of consciousness that characterize the three realms of cycle of existence. In the final section, he refutes several misunderstanding and criticism concerning Mahāmudrā and argues that this Mahāmudrā cannot be realized merely through conceptual reasoning but through practice of non-mentation with the help of instructions which points out the nature of the mind and devotion to guru. Intellectual study and single-pointed concentration are not prerequisites for the experience of Mahāmudrā. He adds that positing the emptiness, which is a non-implicative negation after a reductionist analysis, as Mahāmudrā is not in accordance with the Ultimate Continuum or the purport of the hymns by Saraha.
Kun mkhyen jo nang pa'i bzhes dgongs dbu tshad kyi gzhung spyi dang gung bsgrigs te spyod pa'i spyi don rab gsal snang ba
An explanation of the general meaning of the scriptures on Madhyamaka (dbu ma) and pramāṇa (tshad ma) by the influential modern Jonangpa scholar Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940).
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan gyi lung sbyor
A supplement to Tāranātha's Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness (Gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyan) that focuses on the scriptural sources of the other-emptiness philosophy. The scriptural citations and reference which were barely mentioned or referred to in the Ornament of Madhyamaka of Other-Emptiness are quoted in full to substantiate the claims of the proponents of Other-Emptiness.
Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i mdo rnam par bshad pa sngon med legs bshad
In this commentary on the Heart Sūtra, Tāranātha starts with the discussion of the different forms of Perfection of Wisdom in relation to the nature of phenomena, the path to enlightenment, the resultant state, and the doctrinal teachings which discuss the topic. He cites Dignāga to claim that the true Perfection of Wisdom is the resultant wisdom of the buddhas. However, the most important point he underscores is that the ultimate message of all three Turning of the Wheels and the Heart Sūtra is the great other-emptiness. All conventional phenomena are primordially empty of their own nature but the ultimate nature is only empty of other conventional phenomena but not empty of its own nature. This, he argues, is the ultimate truth, the reality and the intent of all buddhas.
Commenting on the four statements on form and emptiness in the Heart Sūtra, he presents what he considers to be the interpretations among the proponents of the Mind Only (སེམས་ཙམ་པ་) and Naturelessness (ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པར་སྨྲ་བ་), both of which are acceptable in certain contexts but do not capture the ultimate reality. The ultimate understanding, he reasons, must be obtained by putting the four statements in the context of the three characteristics (མཚན་ཉིད་གསུམ་). He goes on to explain how the four statements should be understood in relation to the imputed nature, the dependent nature and the consummate nature, through which one can grasp the meaning of the emptiness of that which is non-existent (མེད་པའི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་), the emptiness of that which is existent (ཡོད་པའི་སྟོང་ཉིད་), and the emptiness of true nature (རང་བཞིན་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་) taught by Maitreya.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi nges don gsal bar byed pa'i rin po che'i gron me
An extensive commentary on the Uttaratantra written by a contemporary of Dölpopa and Butön during the height of the debate over the definitive nature of the treatise and its teaching on buddha-nature. Lodrö Tsungme presents an interpretation of buddha-nature which is different from what is given by many masters of Sangphu including Ngok Loden Sherab. As his position are quite similar to what Longchenpa espoused later, the commentary was mistakenly attributed to Longchenpa by some Nyingma followers.
Chos dbyings du ma ro gcig bde gshegs snying po'i yon tan can gyi mdo sde
Dölpopa's responds to arguments against the theory that buddha-nature has the qualities of the buddha latent in it. He uses scriptural citations and reasonings to argue that the unconditioned buddha-nature must possess the qualities of the Buddha.
Chos kyi 'khor lo legs par gtan la phab pa theg pa chen po'i tshul 'ong ges zhus pa
These are teachings delivered by Drikung Kagyu master Jikten Sumgön that includes an account of the twelve great events of the buddha and the detailed explanation of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma and written down by his student Onge. The text also contains a praise of the Ultimate Continuum as containing the gist of the third wheel.
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos
The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse, which is essentially a synopsis of the Uttaratantra. According to Schaeffer, "This verse text (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa, or De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa) blends scriptural quotations from both sūtra and tantra with Rang byung's own words, creating an evocative picture of the relation between the primordially pure enlightened state- symbolized by the Enlightened Heart (snying po)- human existence, and Buddhahood. While Rang byung has relied heavily on the Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra, (known in Tibet as the Uttaratantra, or Rgyud bla ma), the syncretism of various strands of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna apparent in the text is particular to Tibet. Tathāgatagarbha, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Mahāmudrā, and Annuttarayogatantra all coalesce in this work, which is a testament to the hundreds of years of appropriation and synthesis of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought that preceded it. - Kurtis Schaeffer, from the introduction to The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood.
Dpon byang ba'i phyag tu phul ba'i chos kyi shan 'byed
A lengthy polemical work by Dölpopa that addresses various disputed philosophical positions. Pön Jangpa sent Dolpopa some polemical writings with a measure of gold as gift asking him to send him response. In response, Dölpopa wrote this treatise explaining how self-emptiness as many Tibetan scholars understood is not the ultimate truth but buddha-nature endowed with buddha qualities is.
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan
A polemical work defending the other-emptiness view of the Jonang tradition that addresses the criticism of this position by other Tibetan schools. This discursive text discusses the provisional or ultimate nature of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, the position of Indian masters and philosophical schools, the intent of the Mahāyāna sūtras and the rebuts the criticism of other-emptiness by proponents of the self-emptiness theory in Tibet.
Gzhan stong snying po
A fairly brief work by Tāranātha on the basic tenets of the four systems of Buddhist philosophy, namely the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntrika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka. His exposition culminates with a presentation of the Great Madhyamaka, the pinnacle of the four, which is synonymous with other-emptiness as represented by the Jonang tradition.
Madhyāntavibhāga
In Sanskrit, “Differentiation of the Middle Way and the Extremes”; one of the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga) said to have been presented to Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tuṣita heaven. Written in verse, it is one of the most important Yogācāra delineations of the three natures (trisvabhāva), especially as they figure in the path to enlightenment, where the obstacles created by the imaginary (parikalpita) are overcome ultimately by the antidote of the consummate (pariniṣpanna). The “middle way” exposed here is that of the Yogācāra, and is different from that of Nāgārjuna, although the names of the two extremes to be avoided—the extreme of permanence (śāśvatānta) and the extreme of annihilation (ucchedānta)—are the same. Here the extreme of permanence is the existence of external objects, the imaginary nature (parikalpitasvabhāva). The extreme of annihilation would seem to include Nāgārjuna’s emptiness of intrinsic nature (svabhāva). The middle way entails upholding the existence of consciousness (vijñāna) as the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva) and the existence of the consummate nature (pariniṣpannasvabhāva). The work is divided into five chapters, which consider the three natures, the various forms of obstruction to be abandoned on the path, the ultimate truth according to Yogācāra, the means of cultivating the antidotes to the defilements, and the activity of the Mahāyāna path. (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 489)
Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā
In the Tibetan tradition, which parses out the root verses and refers to that as the treatise (bstan bcos, śāstra), this title references the full text complete with the root verses and the accompanying prose commentary (rnam par bshad pa, vyākhyā). While the earlier Chinese tradition attributes authorship of both aspects of the text to the as of yet still mysterious figure of Sāramati, the Tibetan tradition attributes the treatise to the Bodhisattva Maitreya and this commentary to the illustrious founder of the Yogācāra school, Asaṅga. However, unlike the Chinese tradition which delineates different aspects of the text into the basic verses, the commentarial verses, and the prose commentary, the Tibetan tradition actually preserves two separate versions of the text we know as the Ratnagotravibhāga.
The first, made up entirely of the so-called root verses, corresponds to the Sanskrit title Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, though it is usually referenced in this tradition by the Tibetan equivalent of the latter subtitle, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos, which is commonly rendered into English as the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle and is abbreviated as RGV. However, the full title, Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos dkon mchog gi rigs rnam par dbye ba, does appear at the end of each chapter of the canonical Tibetan recensions. Nevertheless, this version is likely a Tibetan redaction, in that thus far there is no evidence of a Sanskrit version written entirely in verse that excludes the commentarial sections that explain them.
The second, which combines the verses with their accompanying prose commentary, corresponds to the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā as it has become known in academic circles where it is referenced with the abbreviation RGVV. However, in Tibetan the subtitle is merely appended with the equivalent of vyākhyā, i.e. Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa, and thus a translation of the Tibetan title of the complete text would be something akin to the Explanatory Commentary on the Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Great Vehicle. However, the extant Sanskrit recension of the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra directly corresponds to the Tibetan version known as the *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, in that it contains both the root verses and the prose commentary. Though, again, lacking a Sanskrit work entitled the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, we can surmise that its corresponding Tibetan title was likely manufactured in order to delineate it from the streamlined verse redaction, while the Sanskrit title *Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā was in turn a product of modern scholars. On the surface it would seem that this title is a combination of the Chinese title back translated into Sanskrit as the Ratnagotraśāstra and the one found in the Tibetan editions, which state the Sanskrit title as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhya. Nevertheless, in terms of content, the Sanskrit RGV corresponds to the Tibetan RGVV, in that the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra is the same text as Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa.
Also, see the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra and for a recent essay on the text: On the Ratnagotravibhāga by Alexander Gardner.Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa
The first Tibetan commentary written on the Uttaratantra by the translator of the only extant Tibetan translation of the treatise. Furthermore, since the author is also the namesake of the Ngok tradition (rngog lugs) of exegesis of the Uttaratantra, known for its analytic take on the work, this text was highly influential in the conception of a uniquely Tibetan approach to the Uttaratantra and the notion of buddha-nature.
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel ba gsal ba nyi ma'i snying po
Dumowa Tashi Özer's commentary on the Uttaratantra that is based on the Third Karmapa’s topical outline or summary (bsdus don).
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa
An extensive explanatory commentary on the the Ultimate Continuum by one of the major scholastic voices of the Sakya school. As Bernert states, "Refuting, on one hand, the notion that Buddha-nature is synonymous with mere emptiness, and on the other that the mind is inherently endowed with the Buddha qualities, Rongtön argues for an understanding of Buddha-nature that embraces both aspects of the nature of mind: cognizance and emptiness." (Christian Bernert. Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature, 2018.
Meditative Tradition
People with this position
Texts with this position
Zab mo nang don
Rang byung's most famous, and perhaps most difficult work is yet another verse text, his Zab mo nang don, on the Anuttarayogatantras. This eleven-chapter work is thirty-two folios in length. According to a colophon provided by Kong sprul, it was written in the Water Male Dog year, 1322, at Bde chen steng. The colophons to the present redactions say only that it was written in the Dog Year. (Source: Schaeffer, K., The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood, p. 16)
Sekoddeśa
This is the first tantric text in the Kangyur canon related to the Kālacakra cycle. It is a summary of the third chapter of the longer Kālacakra tantra dealing with the ritual of initiation or empowerment. The Kālacakra teachings presents a unique set of seven initiations to conduct the ordinary/childlike initiate (བྱིས་པ་འཇུག་པའི་དབང་བདུན་) and then the four main initiations of the vase, secret, wisdom and word, which are also divided into two sets of the conventional and superior types. The Kālacakra cycle is considered to be very explicit in revealing the luminous nature of the mind through these initiatory rituals and tantric methods employing bodily energy and fluids.
Mnyam med dwags po'i chos bzhir grags pa'i gzhung gi 'grel pa snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
A detailed commentary on Gampopa's Four Dharmas (chos bzhi) instruction for fundamental Buddhist practice. The root verses containing the four dharma of Gampopa were written by his learned student from Laya, Jangchub Ngödup exactly according to how Gampopa taught, and the extensive commentary containing a rich array of citations and arguments was authored by Jangchub Ngödup himself. The topic four dharmas of Gampopa refers to the four points of making dharma practice a genuine dharma practice, making dharma progress on the path, dispelling confusion on the path, and see confusion as pristine wisdom.
Zab lam khrid kyi man ngag 'phrad tshad rang grol
Thrangu Rinpoche met Khenpo Gangshar in the summer of 1957 when Khenpo Gangshar went to Thrangu Monastery in eastern Tibet. While there, Khenpo Gangshar gave these instructions, which are a distillation of the essential points ofthe practices of both mahamudra and dzogchen. Later they were written down, first in a very short form and then as the slightly longer text known as "Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet." What makes them so beneficial for our time is that Khenpo Gangshar presents them in a way that is easy for anyone to understand and put into practice. (Source: Vivid Awareness, Translator's Introduction, pp. IX-X)
Mdo rgyud rin po che'i mdzod
In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Zab mo gzhan stong dbu ma'i brgyud 'debs
Tāranātha's lineage supplication to the other-emptiness Madhyamaka tradition that was preserved by the Jonang school. Tāranātha traces the origin of the other-emptiness to the Buddha, who passed it down through Maitreya, Asaṅga, Vasubandhu to Maitripa or from Vasubandhu through Sthiramati, Guṇamāti, et al. to Maitrīpa, or from Buddha through Vajrapaṇi, Rahulabhadra, Nāgārjuna, Śabari, Maitrīpa, from Maitrīpa through Anandakīrti, Ratnakaraśānti, Sajjṇāna, Anandavajra, then in Tibet through Tsen Khawoche, et al. until Tāranātha.
Yid bzhin mdzod kyi 'grel pa pad+ma dkar po
The root text of the Treasury of Wishfulling Jewel along with its auto-commentary the White Lotus make up one of main books among the Seven Treasures of Longchenpa. In chapter 1 of his Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel, he expounds the theory of buddha-nature as the primordial ground from which both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra arise. In chapter 18 he discusses the abiding nature of reality, which is the ultimate truth, and presents the experiences of saṃsāra as temporary illusions arising from adventitious misconception. Buddha-nature is understood to be the empty, luminous nature of things which abides as the ontic reality in all sentient beings and is free from all fabrications. Using the terms from the sūtras teaching buddha-nature and the Ultimate Continuum, he characterizes buddha-nature as the ultimate pure, eternal, blissful self. He considers the teachings on buddha-nature which form part of the third wheel as definitive teachings, which expound the same ground nature presented in both the sūtra and tantra literature. In summary, he writes in the Treasury of Wishfulfilling Jewel:
འོད་གསལ་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་སྟེ། །སྟོང་གསལ་རིག་པ་དབྱེར་མེད་ཆོས་ཉིད་དོ།། The luminous buddha-nature is indivisible reality Which is spontaneous, empty, and clear awareness.
His presentation on buddha-nature theory and associated practices in his writings became the most authoritative references which determine the interpretation of buddha-nature theory and practice in the Nyingma tradition to this day.Vimalaprabhā
A crucial commentary to the Kālacakra Tantra purported to have been written by Kalkī Śrī Puṇḍarīka, the fabled Second King of Shambhala also known as Kulika Puṇḍarīka, though in the Tibetan tradition the work is sometimes attributed to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara whom Puṇḍarīka was considered to be an emanation of. In the Tibetan tradition it is counted among the Three Cycles of Bodhisattva Commentaries (Sems 'grel skor gsum), which are a trilogy of canonical commentaries attributed to the transcendent Bodhisattvas Vajrapaṇi, Vajragarbha, and Avalokiteśvara on the Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, and Kālacakra Tantras, respectively.
Springs yig bdud rtsi'i thig le
Instruction by Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab written as a letter of advice on Buddhist practice framed as a formal correspondence to one Gatön Sherab Drak and other monks. Ngok Lotsāwa covers many topics in his advice from thinking of death and impermanence, cultivating enthusiasm, compassion, bodhicitta, etc., following the discipline and good teacher to cultivating the crop of Buddha's qualities having moistened the seed of buddha-nature by the rain of learning coming from the cloud of one's master. He advises monks to follow the words of Nāgārjuna and understand the notion of emptiness beyond existence and non-existence.
Chen po gzhan stong gi lta ba dang 'brel ba'i phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam gyi rnam bshad nges don dbyings kyi rol mo
A clear explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer in colloquial Tibetan by a leading contemporary Karma Kagyu master Sangay Nyenpa Rinpoche.
Sde snod bcud bsdus man ngag gi snying po
One of a series of short texts by the Kadam scholar Kyotön Mönlam Tsultrim, this was composed in Narthang at the behest of Sonam Dar, a descendent of Kyide Nyima Gön and at the request of Geshe Gönden Ö and Yönten Ö. The text contains concise lamrim instructions starting with (1) instruction on the contemplation on precious humanhood, impermanence and the law of cause and effect, and the practice of taking refuge for the inferior individuals, (2) contemplation of defects of cycle of existence, renunciation and non-self for those following the path of the hearers and solitary realisers for the middling individuals, and (3) finally the cultivation of bodhicitta and meditation on non-conceptuality and luminous nature of the mind which is free from all elaborations for superior individuals. This brief teaching underscores the importance of eradicating conceptual thoughts and abiding in the non-conceptual luminous nature of the mind.
Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag gi bshad sbyar rgyal ba'i gan mdzod
In his exposition of the Mahāmudrā view in the Phyag chen rgyal ba’i gan mdzod, Padma dkar po adopts Yang dgon pa’s famous distinction between the mahāmudrā in the modes of abiding (gnas lugs phyag chen) and error ( ’khrul lugs phyag chen) as an interpretive schema both for [1] clarifying the doctrine of the unity or nonduality of the two truths—which he takes as a central doctrine of the Madhyamaka, Mantrayāna and ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud traditions—and [2] criticizing the rival Jo nang account of reality which posits the conventional and ultimate as two great kingdoms that have nothing in common. (Source: Mahamudra and the Middle Way - Vol. 2, 157.)
Kun tu bzang po'i smon lam stobs po che
The Powerful Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra comes from the dGongs pa zang thal or Penetrating Intent cycle of Dzogchen teachings by Rigdzin Gödem. The prayer explains how saṃsāra and nirvāṇa emerge from the same ground of primordial reality through awareness and unawareness. The cognitive glitch of dualistic clinging and ego-grasping is explained to have led to the many afflictive emotions and the corresponding resultant states of rebirth. The prayers instructs practitioners to rest in the natural state of the mind without attachment or aversion. The prayer is very widely chanted in the Himalayan communities.
Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa
One of only two extant Sanskrit texts that comment on the Uttaratantra, this highly original work by Sajjana presents a contemplative approach to Maitreya's treatise from an author that was the veritable source for the Tibetan exegetical traditions spawned by his students Ngok Loden Sherab and Tsen Khawoche.
Rgyud bla ma'i sgom rim mi pham dgongs don
This short text by Rongtön Sheja Kunrig contains instructions on how to put the topics contained in the Ultimate Continuum into actual practice. It is among the many practical instructions he has written pertaining to the classical texts which are widely studied in Tibetan scholarly centres. In the course of providing practical instructions, Rongtön makes clear his philosophical understanding of buddha-nature and his interpretation of the teachings on buddha-nature.
